Pride and Prejudice
by Liisa
Summary: Sirius, Remus and Peter have decided they're sick of James and Lily's current snit. Taking matters into their own hands (with help from a few female companions) they undertake to get those two together if it's the last thing they do.
1. Casual Conversation

**Title:** Pride and Prejudice (01)  
**Author name:** Eowyn Jade  
**Author email:**   
**Category:** Romance  
**Keywords:** Lily James Post-Hogwarts Romance  
**Rating:** PG  
**Summary:** After a hard breakup towards the end of their 7th year and with Voldemort's threat hanging over their heads, James and Lily think of love as a luxury, one that they can't afford. But when disaster repeatedly strikes, which is going to save them: Love or Power?  
**DISCLAIMER:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. This story is loosely based on Jane Austin's "Pride and Prejudice".  
**Author notes:** Don't be loking for direct links between this and the books, I'm just taking the general idea and giving it my own twist. Cerint similarities will be obvious once and a while, but please don't leave a bunch of reviews about how this is nothing like the book, because I know it isn't, and that's my point. Thanks for reading.

**Chapter 1 - Casual Conversation**

James hesitated before peaking his head around the corner, hoping to not catch his unruly hair in the many cobwebs that littered the ceiling. He frowned slightly as he surveyed the room with distaste. The two twin beds were covered with dusty, dark blue quilts that seemed torn in several places. The lumpy pillows (James could already tell) were looking extremely uncomfortable, and the bedside cabinets were covered with a thick green substance that made James want to cast a cleaning spell on the spot. But as this was not yet his, he figured he best leave it be.

"Prongs!"

James didn't bother to hide his disgusted face as his best friend walked into the room.

"Padfoot, you can't be serious about this..."

Sirius smiled wide, a mischievous smile that often crossed his face when he knew something someone else didn't. Since their graduation, Sirius had grown a small goatee and let his hair grow out a bit so it hung just below his chin. Now that he had moved into his own flat, Sirius had become much more cheerful about his life, and much more cheerful about disobeying every single rule that his mother used to make him follow.

"James, I am Sirius, remember?'

James threw Sirius an evil look through his glasses and turned back to the room.

"You expect me to live in here?" James swiped a finger along the nearest dressed, dragging with it a thick layer of dust that he proceeded to blow of onto the floor. "This is worse that our school dorms."

"Which is saying a lot." A third voice joined them and they both turned to see Remus Lupin step into the room, a half smile on his face, as if he couldn't quite figure out whether or not to laugh or be serious.

James frowned and shook his head. "No way," he said flat out. "A Potter does not live in such circumstances."

Sirius grimaced and put his hands to his ears. "Oh please, Prongs! You sounded like my mother right there!"

James glanced over at Remus who rolled his eyes in response.

"Where's Peter?" James voiced aloud to no one in particular. Sirius still had his hands covering his ears and his eyes clamped shut as if trying to block out a painful memory, which, James' reasoned, he probably was.

Remus leaned back a bit to glance down the hall. "I think he's sniffing around the cupboards, trying to find something to eat in this dump."

"Food in an apartment that hasn't been occupied in years?" James questioned. "What's he gonna find?"

Remus put both his hands up. "Far be it for me to start questioning Peter's behavior after I've known him for so long."

James frowned and started out of the room, clipping Sirius on the shoulder as he went, knocking him out of his memories. As if following orders, Sirius and Remus both followed him back up the narrow hallway and they came to a standstill in the kitchen, where they saw Peter sitting idly on the nearby couch, twiddling his fingers. All three of them stopped to look at him with raised eyebrows. Noticing them at last, Peter scurried up and took a few steps forward, his eyes moving to James.

"Any luck, James?" He asked in a hurry. "What do you think of it?"

James held up his hands in front of him. "No way...No bloody way, am I paying money to stay in this dump."

"Aw, come on Prongs!" Sirius wined. "You specifically gave us this price range to work with and, believe it or not, this was the best we could find!"

James dug into his pocket, producing a list of addresses they had checked so far. James scrolled to the bottom of the list, taking his wand and striking out the second to last name.

"We'll go see the one off of Palmay Street," James said, pointing to the last name on the list. "It's got to be better than this."

James and the rest of the Marauders had been scouting for weeks to find a suitable apartment for James. Actually, they had been looking since before their Hogwarts Graduation night, and that was almost 2 months ago. Sirius had offered the extra bedroom in his flat, but James, knowing Sirius' cleaning habits, convinced his friends to help him with his own house hunt instead. It seemed like they had covered all of Great Britain, and a few places that were so far away you would think that they were not actually IN Great Britain. None of them, as of yet, had suited James, and everyone was starting to get hot tempers about it.

Peter sighed and Remus stretched a bit. James noticed and rounded on them.

"Listen, this wasn't my idea, okay? You're the ones who want me to stop using my parent's money. Well, this is as much as I can afford right now, especially while I'm doing Auror training." James crossed his arms in a huff and fell back down onto the couch, a cold of dust covering him as he disturbed it.

Sirius sighed out loud and reached down, snatching the piece of parchment out of James' hand. Remus and Peter glanced over his shoulder as he scrolled down the list. The last and only name that had not been scratched out, read;

_Godric's Hollow_

"I don't know, James. This one didn't look promising when we found it," Remus admitted. "We only wrote it down because it was in the price range and was actually a reasonable distance from the Ministry."

"Wasn't this the one that was actually a real house?" Peter asked.

Sirius raised an eyebrow at James, who was resolutely ignoring them, and nodded his head slightly. "A 'fixer-upper', the man said. Whatever that means."

"That usually means it's a piece of junk..." Remus murmured under his breath so James couldn't hear, even though James was trying his best to ignore them anyway.

"Well that could be a good prospect," Sirius reasoned, speaking loud again towards James. "I mean, it would give you something to do on your days off?"

James snorted. "Days off?" He turned his head to them with a slight grin. "Padfoot, have you even met Alastor Moody?"

"He's your trainer!" Peter squeaked out, sounding more like his Animagus form than himself.

"Why didn't you tell us Prongs?" Sirius asked with a wine in his voice.

"Lucky one, James," Remus said, an obvious note of awe in his voice. "I've heard he was the best."

James laughed bitterly. "Oh, he's the best alright, and he doesn't let you forget it. I swear he's trying to make me into a clone of him or something."

Sirius huffed. "You think I have it any better?" he complained. "Dumbledore set me up with old Longbottom..."

Peter cocked an eyebrow confused. "Longbottom...?"

"Not Frank, smart one," Sirius said in exasperation. "His dad. And if you think Frank's bad, you should see his mother..." Sirius shudders, his eyes closing momentarily. "I swear I have nightmares about that woman..."

"At least you two have real jobs," Peter complained. "My application for the Ministry still hasn't gone through yet. I had to borrow money from my parents again last month."

"Where did you apply again, Peter?" Remus asked politely, though all of them knew, having been reminded about it several times already.

Sirius lightly treaded on Remus' foot to keep him from continuing. "The Misuse of Muggle Artifact's Office, Mooney," he said through clenched teeth. "I KNOW you remember that..."

"How's your job going, Mooney?" James asked, hastily changing the subject before Peter could figure out what was going on.

Remus bit his bottom lip in frustration. "Last month was really bad. I had to be out two whole weeks..." he hesitated. "My boss fired me."

James' eyebrows flashed and he stood up quickly. "No!"

"How come I never know what's happening with you people anymore," Sirius howled in frustration. "Stuff like this should come up sooner!"

"It's okay...it's okay..." Remus assured them before they both got too worked up. "I got pension before I left and I have a job lined up for the joke shop in Hogsmeade next week." He grinned. "They know me very well there and when they heard I lost the job, they offered to give me one part time until I found something new."

James smiled in triumph. "Yet another reason why being a Marauder is good for the soul."

Sirius clapped Remus on the back. "Congratz, Mooney..." he put on an innocent face. "Can you get us some discounts then?"

Remus pursed his lips and pushed Sirius away. "We're not here to talk about our career lives gentlemen," he said in an exasperated voice, turning to James. "You want the house or not, Prongs?"

"No," James said flat out.

Sirius let out an exasperated sigh and flapped dramatically down onto the couch where James had just been.

James rounded on Remus and Peter who both looked at him with a small amount of fear. Well, Remus was doing well, but Peter was almost shaking.

"Well you have to admit, James. We've been looking for quite a long while..."

Peter nodded vigorously and tried to crouch behind Remus as he spoke.

"And you got to admit this is a very good price..."

"It's a good price because you spend twice as much as it on cleaning supplies!" James fumed. "What kind of friends are you?" he wined, reaching over to kick Sirius' dangling foot, causing him to fall on the floor with a crash. "I'm asking for one more house!"

Sirius stood up, rubbing his nose and looking disgruntled. "But James!?" he wined. "This is the fifth house today!"

"So what's one more?" he argued back.

All four of them jumped as they heard a scratchy voice behind them.

"Well, what do you say, my dears?"

They all turned to see the wizened old witch who owned the apartment grinning up at them, her yellowing teeth causing Remus to shudder again and Peter to almost squeal in fright.

"Ah..."

"Umm..."

"Well, you see..."

"No thanks!" James said finally, barely acknowledging the witch as he hurried past her and ran out of the apartment building.

Sirius, Remus and Peter all exchanged looks before hurrying out after him, Remus calling a last "Thank You" to the old witch.

"Prongs! Wait up!" Sirius shouted to his best friend, but James just walked faster.

All three of them managed to finally catch up with James as he headed back into the main road of Diagon Alley and stopped to stare into the window of one store.

"Listen, James, you're right. That was awful, okay?" Sirius slung an arm around James shoulders. James grimaced and pushed Sirius away, pulling back to study his three best friends.

James opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by the adjacent store's door opening and a pair of giggling girls exiting. James grimaced as he recognized them and he hurriedly turned the other way, trying to ignore the snickers from his friend who saw his discomfort.

"Well, Marauders," James heard the lovely voice say. "Fancy meeting you here by a ladies robes store?"

James heard Sirius and Peter snicker while Remus replied. "Actually, we just followed James here, he seemed quite taken by the scene in the window."

James winced as he realized that his friends had caught on faster then he would have liked. That girl had been the scene in the window, which was the only reason James had stopped in the first place. Of course, she didn't need to know that.

James tried to turn farther away but he could sense everyone's eyes following him and he had no choice but to turn as he heard himself addressed.

"Hello, Potter."

James managed a smile as he turned to look at Lily Evans for the first time since their graduation night.

"Evans," James inclined his head a bit and tried to avoid her eyes.

_But they were such a startling green._

Lily seemed to scrutinize James for a moment before finally turning away.

"Nice to see you all again," she said to the others.

"See you, Lily," the chorused. "Bye Nikkie."

The girl who had been with Lily, and was currently the redhead's best friend, smiled sweetly before following in her friend's path.

There were a few moments of silence where James followed the girl's retreat, his eyes staying focused on Lily, rather then her black-haired companion. Finally, Sirius clapped his hands together, hard, breaking everyone out of the awkwardness.

"Well, that went quite well!" he said with a smile.

"If you compare it to a bar brawl," James sighed. Seeing Lily again had brought on a whole new set of emotions to this day than James cared to deal with. He still blamed himself exclusively for their breakup, but what hurt him more was that she seemed to have gotten over him a lot quicker then he was getting over her.

"Well, considering the last time you guys were in the same room together you wouldn't even acknowledge each other's presence, I'd say it was a definite improvement," Remus reasoned.

"At least she said hi, James," Peter pipped in.

James scowled. "Only in the loosest sense of the term."

"Lighten up, Prongs." Sirius slung his arm around Jame's shoulders again but James didn't bother to push him away. Instead he cranked his neck around to try and catch one last glance at Lily, but she was already out of sight. "Casual conversation is the first step on the road to recovery."

James smiled a bit and raised an eyebrow at Sirius. "Casual conversation? We said three words to each other."

Sirius seemed to think about that for a moment before he gave up. "Well, whatever. You've got more important things to be worrying about now." He pulled out the parchment again and waved it in front of James sullen face.

"What next, James?"

James turned to his friend with a confused face.

"James, you prat," Remus said with a hint of annoyance. "You think one little argument is actually going to break us up?"

"The best friends you've got?" Sirius added with a grin.

James managed a small smile and pulled away from Sirius again, studying his friend for a moment before speaking.

"Godric's Hollow?"

Sirius smiled. "Godric's Hollow."

His friends smiled and one by one, Disapparated to their last destination of the day to look that the very house that would change James Potter's life.

----

Lily thanked the kind witch at the counter as she grabbed the two desserts and walked back out into the sunlight of the ice cream parlor of Diagon Alley, joining Nikkie at one of the smaller tables.

"Chocolate raspberry with almonds for you," Lily presented, putting down one of the bowls in front of her friend. "And vanilla strawberry with whipped cream for me."

Nikkie grinned and picked up her spoon, taking small bites of her ice cream as she watched Lily sit down, a curious grin on her face. Lily noticed the staring, but quickly sat down, focusing more on her ice cream than was normal. After almost a minute of silence Lily finally slammed her spoon down and glared evilly at her best friend.

"What?" she asked through clenched teeth.

Nikkie gave a knowing smile and raised her eyebrows a bit, taking another small bit of ice cream.

Lily groaned and banged her head on the table in front of her, a small groan escaping her mouth and her spoon flying off the table, hitting a passerby in the forehead, but Lily didn't even notice him yelling at her.

She sighed heavily. but didn't lift her head.

"Why...? Why oh, why oh, why!" she murmured to Nikkie, who kept eating her ice cream, grinning to herself as she watched her friend. "Why can't he just leave me be?"

"Well, I must say, you both were very mature around each other today..." Nikkie replied.

Lily raised her head from the table and glared at her friend. "Mature? Him? You have got to be kidding me!"

"Oh, come on Lily! Why don't you give him a chance for once? It's obvious he still likes you, AND..." She paused for effect and Lily only glared at her harder, "you have to admit, he's still really hot..."

Lily just rolled her eyes and summoned another spoon from the parlor with her wand, starting to eat again. "Hold your tongue, girl...hold your tongue..."

Nikkie reached over, whapping Lily lightly upside the head, causing Lily's spoon to flick a wad of ice cream onto her own face.

"Nikkie!" Lily cried, grabbing a napkin and wiping off her face.

"Lily, he's being more mature about this than you are!"

"Nikkie, what did I tell you about saying that word?"

"I'm just saying, you guys really had something going during seventh year and it seems a shame to end it all just because of some little prank..."

"Nikkie, he RUINED the spring ball!"

"Only after you told him you didn't like the theme anyway!"

"That still didn't give him or anyone else the right to make the flowers shoot out pollen and bees at everyone!"

"He didn't know you were allergic!"

"Well, he must have been the only one in the whole school because everyone else certainly knew!"

"By everyone else do you mean Sirius and Remus...?"

"You know what I mean! Him and those silly friends of his..."

"You didn't think they were so bad when they helped you and James sneak into the Astronomy Tower that one night..."

"Enough!" Lily finally cried, attracting the attention of a bunch of the other customers who looked around, confused. She stood up and looked furiously at her friend. "James Potter and I have absolutely nothing in common! He is a stuck up, self centered brat, who likes to mess up his hair too much, and I...." She noticed now the attention she was attracting and whipped back around to glare at Nikkie. "I'm leaving!"

Nikkie started laughing out loud at that point and was still laughing heartily after Lily had Disapparated. Plenty of people went back to their conversations, only now they were discussing something all together different.


	2. I Told You That

**Title:** Pride and Prejudice (02)  
**Author name:** Eowyn Jade  
**Author email:**   
**Category:** Romance  
**Keywords:** Lily James Post-Hogwarts Romance  
**Rating:** G  
**Summary:** "It's a bloody mouse!" Peter yelled to them, obviously amused.  
  
"It's not a bloody mouse!" Sirius shouted back. "It's a bloody boggart!"  
  
The Marauders get their first look at Godric's Hollow.  
**DISCLAIMER:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Chapter 2 - I Told You That**

Arriving at Godric's Hollow, James' first reaction to it was no better than anything else he had seen that day. It looked like a bomb had gone off inside, literally. All the windows were shattered with practically no glass left on any of them. The door was hanging off to the side by one hinge, swinging slowly back on forth as the wind caught it. The entire house seemed to be consumed in ivy that had crawled up it in the past 20 or so years.

To top it all off, the owner, who was waiting right outside for them, didn't look in much better condition than the house. He made the old witch who owned the last apartment look like a beauty queen. His hair was a stormy grey that was greased down into his round head. He was wearing an eye patch over his right eye, his left eye bloodshot and inflamed. His clothing was torn in several places. He was not wearing and type of shoes, but rather was perched in an enchanted wheelchair so it rose a few centimeters off the ground. Sufficient to say, it looked like a bomb had literally hit him as well.

Upon seeing them appear, the man immediately guided his batter wheelchair to them, his face wearing a scowl and his wand gripped tightly in his hand.

"You sure about this, Sirius?" James whispered to his friend as they saw the man approaching, James' eye focused particularly on the wand the man was holding.

"Newspaper said he was legit, though now that I think of it, Godric's Hollow was one of he prime spots during the start of the war. I heard a battle was fought here once."

"I told you that," Remus murmured to them both.

Sirius flashed him a grin but couldn't reply, because the old man was now situated right in front of them.

"James Potter?" The man said with a gravely voice that reminded James of Mad Eye.

"That's me." Milliseconds after he said it, James realized how stupid that must have sounded.

The old man's nostrils flared as he gave James a hard look. "So, you want it or not?"

James was surprised by the man's forwardness and tried to find the right words to say so he wouldn't sound like such an idiot again. "Well, I would like to look inside a bit an-"

"Look, Potter," the man said quickly, cutting him off. "Tell me yes or no, or I'll take my business elsewhere."

"You don't expect him to pay you money when he hasn't even seen the house!" Sirius said with alarm. James, while grateful for Sirius' help, winced as the man's eyes narrowed again.

"He's seen it," the man growled, his head slightly jerking in the direction of the house.

"What about the inside?" Remus interjected. James was glad he wasn't the only one feeling cheated about this arrangement. He hadn't figured on buying an actually house in the first place, but now with the man's rudeness, he was feeling a bit of his stubbornness come through.

"How much do you want for it?" James asked quickly before the man could reply.

The old man's gaze came back around to land on James, and James did his best not to fidget under it. Moody often scrutinized him like this, making him feel more nervous by a look, than an entire raid of death eaters.

"Take it for free," the man said suddenly, shocking the four boys. James shook his head slightly and turned to look at his friends, all of them wearing identical looks of bewilderment on their faces. That must have been a little detail that the Daily Prophet left out in their ad.

"You don't want anything for it?" James asked in bewilderment as he turned back to the old man.

Surprisingly the man smiled grimly. "You actually think she's worth something?"

James focused back on the old ruined house and had to admit that the man had a point. It didn't seem fit to put a price on a house like that. But, there was something about it that made James want it even more.

An only child and, what Sirius liked to call, a spoiled child, James had grown up with everything that he had ever needed His family had house elves, his mother and father had good jobs, and James role had always been to get good grades in school, which he had accomplished without many problems. Now, the mere possibility of ownership of something he could work on, get his hands dirty with, was creeping into his head, and he quite enjoyed the thought.

"Yes, she is," James said after a moment, realizing that he was taking a risk and that might make the man actually want money, but something told James he had made the right choice.

The old man grinned and reached out to shake James' hand.

"Very well, Potter, she's yours."

James' forehead creased. "Just like that?"

"Of course," the man twitched his wand and a small roll of parchment appeared, along with an ancient brass key. "This is the formal stuff right here." He handed James the parchment and key. "That's the deed, and key to the house. Not sure how much you'll actually need the key, but giving it to you makes the contract final. Congratulations James' Potter. You are now the proud owner of Godric's Hollow.

----

After James had thanked the old man and had finally learned his name (Mr. Lawrence Portly), Portly left them in a considerably lighter mood then when they had met, and apparated, wheelchair and all, out of sight. Grinning like a fool and clutching the deed and key in his hands tightly, James finally turned to his friends.

"What do you think, guys?" he said with a wide grin.

All three of them were focused on the house beyond that, for all they knew, could fall down if they so much as breathed on it.

"I think you're nuts," Sirius blatantly admitted, his eyes not leaving the house.

"I'm not going inside," Peter mumbled.

"Do you realize what you just did James?" Remus asked him cautiously.

James' smile widened. "Of course I do!" He threw his arms up and started running towards the house sideways so that they could hear him as he continued shouting. "I just bought a house for NOTHING! It's mine! It's my very own house!"

The three marauders raised identical eyebrows and exchanged looks with each other.

"So, now that he doesn't have Lily anymore, he's lusting over a house?" Remus asked with a mixed expression of horror and humor.

"More like he's trying to find something to occupy all his time besides Lily," Sirius offered.

"Or he could just like the house..." Peter muttered.

Remus and Sirius shot him a glare.

James had now reached the house and the saw him cautiously test the front steps, testing each one before putting his weight onto it.

"He's such an idiot..." Remus murmured. "Doesn't even have his wand out."

"Who knows what's in there," Peter said with horror.

Sirius, however, did not say anything. Both Remus and Peter turned to ask him what was wrong, but he wasn't there anymore. Looking back at the house, they saw Sirius rush up to James, grinning. Both boys whooped and hollered excitedly and didn't bother to test the last step as the bounded all they way into the dusty house. Peter and Remus both stood still, smug looks on their faces as they heard Sirius and James scuffling around the house, Sirius' high pitched squeal when something was finally found, and both their friend's cries as they raced through the house away from whatever it was they had found.

"You can take the Marauder away of the stupidity..." Peter murmured.

"But you can't take the stupidity away of the Marauder," Remus finished their old quote that the four of them had created just after they had been caught for the first time after a prank. It had become their excuse to teachers whenever they were caught from then on.

"You know, we should probably change that from 'Marauder' to 'James and Sirius'," Remus said with a smile as the two boys finally rushed out of the house and Remus and Peter both saw what they were running from. A small mouse that seemed to be half caught in a trap raced out behind them, running much faster than Remus though was possible for a mouse.

"It's a bloody mouse!" Peter yelled to them, obviously amused.

"It's not a bloody mouse!" Sirius shouted back. "It's a bloody boggart!"

Remus rolled his eyes and jogged a little ways forward just as James and Sirius rushed past him. When Remus became closer to the boggart than the other two boys, it immediately changed into a large globe that hung suspended before Remus. A small spark of the usual fear shot through Remus at first, but it passed quickly, and he let his annoyance fuel his spell.

" Riddikulus!" he shouted, raising his wand at the orb. In an instant, there was a loud pop and the moon landed on the ground as a small ant. Not wasting any time, Lupin quickly reached over and squashed it under his foot. Then, turning his amused face back towards James and Sirius he managed a smile.

"You're going to need all the help you can get James," Remus said, trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice. No matter how much people were convinced that Hogwarts had successfully matured Sirius and James, Remus knew better. At heart, both the boys were still 11 years old and setting off dung bombs in the Slytherin common room.

James, who was now over his fright of the dead boggart and was once again lusting over his house, snapped out of his trance and glanced towards Remus with a raised eyebrow.

"Is that an offer of help, Moony old pal?" James said with that obnoxiously smug grin of his. Out of the corner of his eye, Remus saw Sirius sling an arm around Peter who was desperately trying to leave.

Sighing again, Remus started trudging towards the house.

"What are friends for?" he said softly as James and Sirius whooped with delight and raced down the hill after him.

----

The cleanup didn't go as bad as Remus had expected it would, though the house was in awful shape. By the end of the first week they had managed to clean out most of the live things, which was a feat in and of itself since their schedules were so hectic.

James was the busiest of the lot, being at Auror training six days out of the week. He was always enthusiastic to help when he came home at night, but was often so tired that he fell asleep on the job. Sirius and Peter once found him being attacked by a pair of bright red trousers that were in the closet he had been cleaning. When they got him out of the mess, they found that he had fallen asleep. Sirius, who was also training, was gone just as often as James, but wasn't so exhausted when he came home, and had the weekends off, whereas James only got Sundays off. Remus, though out of a job, was still on a permanent job hunt, so he was gone for a few hours of the day, but spent most of the day at Godric Hollow. Peter was there almost 24/7, though he often didn't do much if he was there alone.

As the second week rolled around, they started tackling the upstairs cleaning job. Although the living members of the house were disposed of, there were quite a few enchanted objects that seemed to spring on them during random points of the cleaning process. Remus and James tackled a rather large floorboard that seemed to not want to let people across it without springing out and smacking them in the legs, or between the legs. It took them both nearly an hour and a half a box of dung bombs until they wore it down to the point where they could take the enchantment off. At the same time, Remus and Sirius were on dust duty, which didn't take more than flicking your wand and muttering the cleaning spell. Yet somehow, Peter managed to get bitten three times on his hand by some rather nasty dust mites that had hid themselves underneath an old frame that was stuck to the wall.

The hard part didn't come until the third week when they began to move out all the old and decrepit furniture from the house. Much of it had been moved out during the first week, but there was still plenty of it to get them ticked off. To help on that Sunday when all four of them were there, Sirius managed to round up Frank Longbottom, Alice Prewet, Nikkie Hallstead and, to James surprise, Lily Evans.

"_Her_?" James hissed in Sirius' ear as he saw the group walk up to the house, all of them wearing identically frightened faces. Despite how much work the Marauder's had done on the inside of the house, the outside still looked just as bad. "You just had to get _her_ didn't you?"

Sirius winked playfully at James and grinned. "What's wrong, Jamie? I though you were _over_ her?"

"I hate it when you call me Jamie..." James said through gritted teeth as he walked to the front door to let them in, a phony grin coming to his face as he turned to open the door.

"Hey guys!" Sirius called to the group as they filled in, most of them casting doubtful looks around the house.

"I don't know how you talked me into this, Sirius," Frank said, shaking his head sadly as he surveyed the foyar which, even for all the cleaning thy had put into it, still looked rather shabby.

"Leave it to you to drag me to this for a date, Frank," Alice said with a scoff. "I supposed this is your idea of romantic?" She eyed Frank dangerously who when slightly pink and shot a scowl at Sirius that clearly said '_screw this up for me and you die'_.

As always, Sirius was never bothered by death threats. Clapping his hands together, he turned to James.

"What's first, Prongs?"

Remus and Peter burst through the back door as Sirius said this, both of them out of breath and looking scared for their lives.

Open mouthed, James turned to look at them and noticed that Remus had a large cut through his right arm and Peter was sporting a black eye.

"Do I even want to know?" James groaned, walking toward them.

"Probably not," Remus said between breaths. "But whatever is living in that shed in the backyard is either really hungry or has some serious PMS."

All the boys chuckled, the girls glaring at Remus who shrugged under their gaze. "Can't hide the truth."

No one moved for a moment, their eyes resting on James as he thought about what he could do about the problem.

"Didn't we get all the creatures out, like, two weeks ago?" He finally said with exhaustion in his voice.

"That was inside the house," Peter wined. "Your Quidditch Pitch in the back is a mess, and we were trying to find the balls in the shed when we got attacked."

"So what is it?" Frank asked with a raised eyebrow. It was clear he wasn't too worried but James noticed that he had just noticeably moved himself in front of Alice.

"I'm guessing another boggart," Remus concluded, his breathing back to normal. "Pete saw it first so I think that's why it changed into a...well whatever that thing was..." he turned to Peter. "What was it?"

Peter went slightly red. "I'm not really sure, but I'm guessing it was Voldemort..."

Nobody gasped as the name was said. Many wizards of the time understood how dangerous Voldemort was, and often flinched at his name. But luckily, everyone who was currently there had faced him once already, and no one was scared of his name. Peter obviously still had some fears though, since Voldemort was the form the Boggart took.

"You two got beaten up by Voldemort?" James asked with a skeptical eyebrow.

This time Remus went a little red and hung his head. "Actually, I tripped over the hedges as I was running away and Pete ran into the side of the shed."

Because Peter and Remus were their friends, James and Sirius kept themselves from laughing, the others muffling their chuckles with their hands.

----

Pairing up seemed the quickest way to get things done, and since James was still mad about Lily, Sirius put himself in charge, doing all the things a best friend does best. He didn't bother to hide his laughter as he saw the looks on James and Lily's faces when he announced that they would be paired together.

"Well it makes sense if you think about it," Sirius said casually. "Frank and Alice are together, as always. You know for a fact that I would pair myself up with Nikkie, and Remus and Peter work so well together, don'tcha think?" He ended his reasoning with an evil grin that showed James how much of a jerk he was really being.

Gritting his teeth and cursing at Sirius under his breath, James trudged up the stairs behind Lily who seemed to like this no better then him. As they marched up to their assigned room, James heard everyone downstairs start to laugh loudly and distinctly heard the words "James", "Lily", "get over it". Lily must have heard it to, because the minute they reached the room she whirled around, her eyes narrowing at him.

"Listen, Potter. I don't like you, and you don't like me. It's obvious we're going to have to get around that little problem. I'm not here for you today; I'm here for Nikkie who is here for Sirius, who just happens, for some reason, to be your best friend."

James scowled at her and held up his hands in defeat. "Chill out, Evans, stop acting like the world's going to end if you say something nice to me!"

Lily's eyes narrowed and she flushed slightly, but, to James' surprised, didn't make a come back.

They were both silent for a moment until James finally walked over to the bed and pulled out his wand.

"Are we going to do this or not?" he said through gritted teeth.

In response, Lily flicked her wand out, pointing it at the bed. A second later it shrunk down to the size of a snitch and Lily calmly walked over to it, picked it up, put it in her pocket, and walked back out of the room, James following in her wake with a definite scowl on his face and his temper rising.


	3. Manipulation

**Title:** Pride and Prejudice (03)  
**Author name:** Eowyn Jade  
**Author email:**   
**Category:** Romance  
**Keywords:** Lily James Post-Hogwarts Romance  
**Rating:** G  
**Summary:** "Your families both got very close while you and Lily were dating." Mr. Lupin frowned slightly. "Broke their hearts when you two split up."  
Yeah me too...James thought glumly. Wait? Did I actually just think that?  
"Well we can't all get what we want," he sighed, nodding to them once.  
  
James and Lily fight (again), resulting in disastrous styling tips.  
**DISCLAIMER:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Chapter 3 - Manipulation**

For the next few hours, the Potter/Evans group worked in silence, glaring at each other once in a while, but otherwise trying hard not to acknowledge each other's existence. Other individuals in the house got into the habit of stopping their conversations whenever Lily or James entered the room. In fact, the whole house was deathly silent for the rest of the day. Well, was deathly silent until around five o'clock that evening; right when everyone though that the horrible day was about to be over.

"Potter!"

"Evans!"

Godric's Hollow seemed to shake as the two cries were hear simultaneously and the entire rest of the house stopped to listen. A few bumps and bangs were heard from the upstairs direction of where the cries came from. They were followed by some muffled yells that seemed to resound through the halls. After about five more minutes of struggling, the noises stopped and everyone watched the staircase with bated breath, waiting to see who would be the survivor.

To everyone's surprise James Potter came down quickly, a scowl on his face and his wand gripped tight in his fingers. His hair was a brilliant neon pink that seemed to blind anyone who looked at it straight on. He also had a cut lip and a black eye. Skipping the last two steps, he jumped down to the ground, stalking towards the door, and slamming it shut behind him.

A few glances were exchanged, but no one dared speak.

Approximately 30 seconds later, Lily Evans calmly walked down the stairs. By her calm face and dignified pose, you would have thought that she was the apparent winner in the battle, but the rest of her appearance told otherwise. Her hair, normally a brilliant red orange, was stripped with a putrid green color and stuck up at odd angles along her head. Her skin was also tainted a bit (a spell which seemed to be wearing off) to a dull blue color that horribly clashed with her complexion. Despite the change in her body color, they could see the blush still in her cheeks as she tried to remain dignified, stepping through their gawking faces and out the door.

As soon as the door clicked shut, all of them ran over to the windows and watched. James had, thankfully, disapperated already. Lily, keeping her dignified stance, walked about 50 meters away (past the non-apparation line) and was gone with a pop.

"Ah, did we have a plan B?" Sirius said with alarm as everyone pulled back and looked at each other with horrified expressions. "'Cause I believe we might have just made it worse."

"Is it possible that those two really weren't made for each other?" Frank said with disdain.

Alice, glared at him crossly with her arms folded. "Way to break the moment Frank."

"Don't you remember how happy both of them were in 7th year?" Remus said with a slight grin.

"Leave it to James to go and ruin a perfect thing," Frank said darkly.

"Don't you dare blame James for what happened!" Sirius shot back. "You weren't even paying attention; it wasn't his fault at all!"

"He was the one who ruined up the Spring Ball..."

"But Lily had told him that she didn't like the theme anyway. I still remember James missing sleep over that fact that she was so unhappy about something. He was trying to cheer her up when he pulled that prank."

"I supposed the fact that she was allergic to bees never crossed his mind," Alice said sighing and flopping down onto one of the kitchen chairs.

There was another bout of silence as everyone tried to think of what to do next. The problem was that they just happened to be working with the two most stubborn people in the world. Everyone there knew that those two were both still head over heels for each other. The problem was getting them to get over their pride.

"We could try the old 6th year trick," Peter put in with a grin.

Sirius also managed a smile. "Unfortunately, that trick only works with 16-year-olds, Wormtail."

"Let's not be hasty," Remus said quickly. "It wouldn't hurt to try. Besides, I think we can all agree that James still acts like he's a 16 year old."

"And that's on a good day," Frank said through a chuckle.

"What do you think Nikkkie?" Siruis said with a half grin, turning to the black haired girl who had, so far, managed to stay out of the conversation.

"I think it's great that you two are trying to get them back together again," she said cautiously. "But I don't quite remember what the 6th year trick is..."

Sirius' grin widened and he turned to Remus who chuckled a bit.

"Think back to our 6th year Nikkie," Remus said mysteriously. "Remember what got you and Sirius together?"

"Finally," Peter added, smiling.

Nikkie's eyes went wide as she remembered, and they all saw the blush creep onto her face.

"You don't mean that that was...that was you!" she said in accusation. "Boy I thought that luck had just played a bad joke on me!" She rounded on Sirius who put his hands up in defense. "I suppose you knew about this?"

"Actually," Sirius reasoned, "this was one of the few pranks that I did not have a hand in."

"James and I though of it to get you and Sirius together," Remus explained. "A harmless thing, really, if you think about it. But it does manage to get the job done. You and Sirius are living examples of that."

Nikkie seemed to consider this for a moment and finally nodded her head in consent. Grins broke out on everyone's faces and they all started talking at once, their voices rising as they got more and more excited.

"But!" Nikkie yelled loudly over everyone's voices and at once they quieted down to look at her. She was giving them all piercing glares.

"If they kill each other in there, I will disavow all knowledge that I know any of you..."

----

The sun was halfway set by the time James reached Perriman Lane where his parents lived. James fumed as he appeared outside his parents home, his mood becoming sulkier as he saw a bunch of silhouettes in the windows of people talking together. He also heard a faint noise of music coming from the house.

_Great, just what I need. To walk into my parent's house with a head of neon pink hair during another one of Mom and Dad's brilliant dinner parties..._

He raised his wand for a moment, muttering a few words and trying once again to change his hair back, but it still didn't work. He did, however, manage to heal his lip and eye with the healing charms that he had been taught during his first week of training.

"She got you good, didn't she, Potter?"

Started as he was by the sudden visitor, through instinct, James did not jump or even appear startled. His wand smoothly traveled in the direction of the voice and his face remained calm until he saw who the speaker was.

Sighing, James lowered his wand in defeat and scowled in the semi darkness. This was most defiantly not his day.

"Good reflexes, but we still need to work on your attention span." Moody's gravely voice broke through the silence again and James felt even more embarrassment creeping into his system.

"Don't tell me," he said with a hint of annoyance. "that Mother and Father invited you to dinner?"

Moody gave him a crooked and rare smile. "Don't need an Auror to tell you that."

James sighed and ran a hand through his hair, momentarily forgetting its apparent color change and instead, trying to figure out how to explain himself to Moody.

"So if this how you spend your days off from me? Getting in fights with rambunctious young girls?"

James frowned. "Day, Alastor. Singular. Don't let me remind you what I'm doing the other six days of the week. Besides, how do you know it was a girl? Remember that my best friend is Sirius Black."

It had taken James a while to get used to calling the famous Auror by his first name, but Moody had insisted, arguing that it would make his training go smoother if they were more comfortable around each other. James still, however, called him Moody anywhere else.

Moody coughed loudly and hobbled closer to him. "I know a lot Potter, doesn't mean I go blabbing about it to everyone."

James grimaced. Normal conversations with Moody were hard to come by. His trainer had a keen ability to never answer the questions that you want him to and always changed the subject just when you were getting interested in it. But, back talking to Mad-Eye was a hurdle that James wasn't too keen on jumping just yet. Especially not with only a week left of his training.

Instead of answering, James just began walking towards the house. Moody joined him on his right side and they walked in silence till they reached the front porch. James' father, Richard Potter, tall and skinny with his son's same black, unruly hair greeted them there, obviously alerted by Moody's walking stick that clunked up every other step as they climbed the stairs to the front door of the Potter Manor.

"James! Wonderful to see you son!"

James couldn't help but grin as he said his dad and wrapped him in a bear hug. One of the things James treasured was his family and friends. Especially his family, which, in James' opinion, was one of the best you could have.

"Hi dad, how's the party going?"

"Not bad, waiting around for you and Sirius to come and crash it like you did when you were boys," Richard winked at his son and then his grin grew as he saw his hair. "Had a run in with Lily again, didn't you?"

James frowned and shot Moody a dark look. "Why does everyone assume that?"

Instead of answering him, Richard turned to Moody. "Thanks for keeping an eye out for him, Alastor. Goodness knows he can be a handful."

James got the sinking feeling that he was being manipulated. First, Lily Evans manages to curse him, and now no one was answering his questions, not even his father.

"He'll be a great Auror yet." James was pleased to sense a hint of pride in Moody's voice. "As long as he doesn't make any more stupid mistakes."

James' grin dropped and he tuned out the rest of their conversation as he ducked inside, hoping to be able to hurry up the stairs without being seen.

No such luck.

"James! How lovely!"

Gritting back a curse, James turned to see Cathy and Fredrick Lupin, Remus' parents, walking up to him with smiles on their faces. James managed to smile as he shook both their hands as properly as he could with pink hair.

"We didn't know you were going to turn up tonight," Mr. Lupin said brightly. "Is Remus with you at all?"

"Er, actually I think he's still back at my house with Sirius and Peter," James informed them as truthfully as possible. He didn't know how keen the Lupins would be if they knew how their son had spent the last few weeks cleaning out a dirty old house with not so much as a house elf to help. The Lupins, like the Potters, were a rather old wizarding family, rich and powerful, but unusual in the fact that they had never been associated with dark side activities. Their good luck had seemed to come to an end when their only child was bitten by a werewolf, but James reasoned that things hadn't turned out so bad.

"Pity," Mr. Lupin said looking quite put out, "We were hoping to have a word with him before we left in the morning."

James' forehead creased. "Where are you two going?"

They both smiled. "Business trips, as usual. We try to not have them scheduled at the same time, but we've been avoiding them for so long, that it was bound to happen sooner or later."

Both of the Lupins worked for the Ministry of Magic in the Department of Mysteries, and that was about all James knew about them. James himself had been hoping to apply for that department, but in the end had decided that being an Auror was more along his style.

Besides, you couldn't make casual conversation with an Unspeakable, as they were called. James himself was having a rather hard time figuring out what to say next. You couldn't ask them anything about their work, and they probably already knew everything that was going on in your life. Often the conversations came to very familiar standstills.

But James' hair wasn't pink every day.

"Goodness gracious, James!" Mrs. Lupin finally gasped. "What in the world happened to your hair?"

"I see you met up with Lily Evans again..." Mr. Lupin waggled his eyebrows up and down and James felt the annoyance creep up again. He opened his mouth to ask why everyone was saying that, but decided it was rather pointless, and closed it again.

Though, the Lupin's weren't Unspeakable's for nothing.

"Oh come off it, James! Who else could get away with hexing you?" Mr. Lupin said with a grin, slapping him on the back.

James shook his head in disbelief but managed a small smile. "Yeah, well you should have seen the other guy...I mean, girl," he added hastily.

"I actually believe I saw the Evans' here earlier..." Mrs. Lupin said suddenly, glancing around a bit.

James gulped. "Here? At a Wizarding party?"

"Well, I believe your parent's invited them for the night, yes. Why not? Your families both got very close while you and Lily were dating." Mr. Lupin frowned slightly. "Broke their hearts when you two split up."

_Yeah me too..._James thought glumly. _Wait? Did I actually just think that?_

"Well we can't all get what we want," he sighed, nodding to them once. "I need to go get this stuff out of my hair, so if you'll excuse me..."

He inclined his head a bit again and backed away, trying his best to move at a dignified pace. He never really liked going to his parent's parties, especially now that he was old enough to actually attend. When he was littler, he and Sirius always snuck in, playing pranks on the guests when they weren't allowed to come down to the party. Now that they both were always invited to the gatherings, they declined every time. James couldn't decide if he and Sirius had matured, or the party's had just gotten duller.

Probably the latter; James doubted the first would ever actually happen. According to Moony, he and Sirius would be 11 year olds forever.

James had gotten all the way to the bottom of the stairs before he was stopped again.

"James! Didn't expect to see you here!"

James groaned silently and managed a weak smile, turning to greet Mr. Evans with a firm handshake.

"Hello, sir. Good to see you again." He looked around, confused. "Where's Elanor?"

Ryan Evans was a good favored man with a kind face, lined with worry marks. His half bald head was sprayed with a small dash of fading red hair. He was the only person in the room now wearing a robe, though he looked as if he did not feel the least bit out of place at all.

His wife, Elanor Evans also seemed to have a permanent smile on her face. Elanor had blond hair rather than red, and was a bit skinnier than her husband. They were both around the same height so, despite their physical differences, they seemed to fit together.

James knew that they Evans' had another daughter names Petunia. Lily had spoken about her once or twice. From what James had heard, Petunia hated everything having to do with Wizards, especially Lily. It had upset Lily a number of times when she got sent back letters that she wrote to her sister. Apparently they had been close as children but had fallen apart when Lily left for Hogwarts. Since his growing fondness for Lily, James had not taken much of a liking to Petunia, but still had never had the chance to meet her. He found it hard to believe that someone like her could be the member of such a family. Lily's temper was one thing, but Petunia shunned Wizard's like a virus.

Pointing to his hair, Mr. Evan's chuckled. "Lily?"

James had been surprised how kind the Evans still were to him, even after he and their daughter broke up. They seemed to have accepted his apology after Lily's swelling had gone down after the prank he had pulled during the Spring Ball. They still frequently laughed at it during sporadic moments, much to Lily and James' annoyance.

James gave him a genuine smile this time as he realized how well this man knew his daughter and her ex-boyfriend.

"She looks worse, believe me," he said, his bottom lip twitching slightly.

"Oh I have no doubt of that," Mr. Evans said smiling. "Lily's a great witch, and I think you're probably the only one who can truthfully say you bested her in something."

James grin widened and he stored that away later to use in the next fight he had with Lily. Unfortunately, Mr. Evans seemed to notice that.

"No blackmailing me son," he said in a low, urgent voice. For being muggles, the Evans' were always very comfortable around magic and talking about magic. They never seemed angry or scared about it at all. That was probably one of the reasons James' parents and then had gotten along so well. Mr. and Mrs. Potter were as curious about muggles as the Evans' were about wizards. "Remember, I don't have any magic wand to protect me."

Chuckling, but not promising anything, James bid him farewell and headed back up the stairs, fully determined to not only tell Lily what her father had said, but continually rub the fact in her face until she begged for mercy.


	4. Improvisation Usually Works

**Title:** Pride and Prejudice (04)  
**Author name:** Eowyn Jade  
**Author email:**   
**Category:** Romance  
**Keywords:** Lily James Post-Hogwarts Romance  
**Rating:** G  
**Summary:** "Not everyone's out to get you, Evans."  
"You obviously are."  
"What's that supposed to mean?"  
"Well, I know you had something to do with this."  
"Look, I do know this prank. I played it in Sirius when we were in 6th year. Which means I would also know if there was a way to get out of it..." he paused for effect. "There isn't."  
  
The prank is pulled...  
**DISCLAIMER:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Chapter 4 - Improvisation Usually Works**

"We're gonna die...we're all gonna die, that's all there is to it-"

"Shut up, Peter!"

Remus shot a warning look to Sirius for his outburst and give Peter an apologetic look. He couldn't blame either of them, though. Everyone was quite jumpy. Only 5 more minutes, according to Frank. But then, Frank did have a small forgetfulness problem.

Glancing back at the front door, Remus bit his bottom lip and continued to pretend like he was washing the drain board. This was actually supposed to be the action that he was doing when James came in, but as Remus was too nervous to think of something else to do, he was content with just wiping the same spot over and over.

Peter and Sirius were both over in what James has christened the "family room", trying to act as if they were dusting off the many books that James had decided to leave their from the previous owner. Godric's Hollow had officially been habitable for almost a week now and all three boys had spent that week helping James move his stuff in and trying desperately not to let him see them talking behind his back.

It's all for his own good, Remus reminded himself.

Anyways, Lily was a clever girl. She should be able to figure out a hint, even if James couldn't understand.

Remus unconsciously glanced at the clock again and saw that they were due any minute. He heard a muffled thud and looked up to see that Peter had apparently dropped the books he was moving onto Sirius' foot. Sirius, who Remus had to admit was being a very good sport about all this, was bravely holding his tongue and resorting to just shooting Peter another death look. Remus didn't turn back until they went back to their cleaning. His eyes strayed to the white sheet that was throw carefully over the back of the couch. Of course, anyone who saw that sheet wouldn't have thought it was any big deal, especially with the rest of the room looking as messy as it did, but it was an essential part of their plan.

Right on cue, the front door opened and the three Marauders hustled to start looking as busy as possible.

Frank Longbottom entered, his left eye closing momentarily and opening to show that his job was done.

A frustrated and disheveled James Potter came in after him. Remus winced at the sorry state that his friend was in. Maybe they shouldn't have planned this right after a set of James' Auror tests. He had been going through them for several weeks now, and was only one day from his final test. Every day he came home right at five and went straight up to fall asleep. The Marauder's had a different evening in mind for him tonight.

"How'd you do, Prongs?" Sirius called to him, failing miserably at acting normally. Remus groaned as he saw that Sirius, being caught off guard by their sudden entrance, had picked up a book and started to pretend to read it. No bloody way James was going to believe that.

Sure enough, James' eyebrows shot up when he looked at his best friend. "Since when do you read books?"

"Ah?" Sirius shot a terrified look at Remus who was waving frantically for Sirius to put the book on the shelf. James saw the eye contact and whirled to look at Remus who froze with his hands in a strange angle in the air.

"Ah..." Remus' mind went blank. No! They were Marauders! They could do this! He faked a smile and suddenly became very interested in the crack that ran through the middle of the counter.

They were all thankfully spared the grueling task of coming up with more lies with the back door opening and three female voices heard coming into the house.

Apparently, Peter, Sirius and Remus had all forgotten that James was also a Marauder, a Marauder who just happened to be the trickiest of all of them.

James' eyes narrowed at Lily Evan's voice and then flashed up towards Remus.

"What is she doing here?"

The whole entire plan suddenly whooshed out of Remus' head and he heard himself stammering for the words, which were most defiantly not coming out.

"Whatever you all are planning, forget it!" James snapped, his fatigue disappearing as he marched towards the back door.

As he went through to the next room, Remus, Frank, Sirius and Peter all exchanged worried looks.

"The sheet," Remus said quickly as they all followed him to the back forum where they could already tell the two personalities had clashed, with a very desperate Alice Prewet between them. Nikkie was standing slightly off to the side, looking like she was desperately trying to hold back a laugh.

They all stopped short at the sight of Lily and James bickering to one another. At least they hadn't gotten to the yelling part yet.

"You think you can just walk into my house, Evans? Thought I made it clear last time!"

"Oh you made it clear alright! Have a fun time changing your hair back?"

"Probably not as fun as you had changing your skin color back!"

_What happened?_ Alice mouthed to them with a worried face.

"Don't ask," Sirius whispered back.

"Pigheaded Moron!"

"Overconfident Bookworm!"

"Showoff!"

"Know-it-all!"

The shouting only increased.

"Give me the sheet Sirius," Remus said quietly. The bickering was rising now and neither of the arguers seemed to realize that other people were in the room.

"Lazy Jerk!"

"Carrot Head!"

Sirius obediently handed the sheet to Remus who pointed his wand at the nearby coat closet. It opened slowly and by the time it was full open, the rest of the onlookers realized what Remus was planning.

Well, improvisation usually worked.

Just a few more seconds...Remus saw that Lily and James were getting more and more aggravated with each other, their faces getting closer and closer as they shouted.

"Slimy git!"

"It takes one to know one!"

"Now!" Remus finally shouted, and in one motion, throwing the sheet over James and Lily with one smooth motion. Frank and Sirius had moved around to the other side of them and both at once shoved the two people who were under the sheet into the open closet.

James barely got out a stifled "SIRIUS!" before the door slammed shut and Remus waved his wand, locking it. A second later, all of them heard the loud SMACK! as James hit the door.

"Oh, bad luck, Prongs!" Sirius shouted through the door with glee, a large smile plastered on his face.

"Padfoot, I'm gonna kill you!" James screamed, his voice only slightly muffled by the door.

"Move over, Potter!"

"Bugger off!"

There was a small bit of scuffling as James was shoved by Lily and they heard her using all different types of spells to open the door.

Remus watched all of this with an amused look on his face, twirling his wand in his fingers and looking smug about something.

"How do you all expect me to survive through this!?" James was howling.

"I'm sure you'll find a way!" Peter called back.

"It won't work Lily," Remus finally told her after it was clear that she was becoming frustrated. She paused and both she and James were quiet, waiting for Remus to expand on his statement. "I've put an anti-opening jinx on the door. You guys got three days _at least_ till that spell wears off. I suggest you put that time to use as best you can."

He turned to look at Sirius and Peter who were both laughing by now. They started walking out of the room and Sirius slapped him on the back.

"Well done, Moony! You have officially pranked James Potter!"

Remus still felt the least but apprehensive about the whole thing though.

"I just hope his doesn't kill me when he finally gets out of there."

"Oh believe me, Remus. They're both going to be thanking you a million times over."

Sirius slung his arms around Nikkie and held onto her tight as they walked into the family room. Remus looked at them curiously as they went and sat on the couch together, sharing one or two quick kisses and discussing only things that Sirius would ever talk about. Remus saw how both of their eyes lit up as the other spoke and he wondered if that's how James and Lily would act, hopefully. Remus had never before see two people as crazy about each other, but as clueless as well.

James' pride often held him back. Remus knew this for a fact since James had actually told him about his ideas to ask out Lily again. It always came down to the fact that he was wronged in their relationship, and he was determined not to go crawling back to her.

Lily, on the other hand, had this mental picture in her mind of who James Potter was. When it was cleaned and then corrupted in their 7th year, it seemed her prejudice for him had hit an all time high. And, unfortunately, there were no signs of the level dropping.

Smiling with hope and laughter, Remus went back to cleaning the kitchen.

----

Trying to kick the rest of the sheet off him, James fumed as he heard Remus finish his explanation.

"...I suggest you put that time to use as best you can."

James' anger well up and he ended up kicking the door hard with his foot, hoping by some miracle that it would have some effect on it. Needless to say, all it did was give him a stubbed toe. He muttered darkly as he heard Sirius howl with laughter, obviously guessing on what James had just tried. Everyone on the other side of the door started laughing with each other and talking, but James couldn't hear what they were saying. He realized that they were walking away from the door.

Great, just what he needed. One of his old pranks to come back and haunt him.

He glanced over at Lily who was still trying to get the door open, a look of pure desperation on her face.

James frowned slightly. Was he really that horrible?

Shrugging, and knowing that there was no was the get the door open, James slid down the wall, seating himself on the ground as comfortable as he could in the small confines of the closet.

Lily glared down at him, noticing that he wasn't as concerned as she was, probably.

"I supposed you think that was terribly clever," she growled at him, folding her arms and leaning against the opposite wall. There was no more than a foot of space in between James' stretched out feet and Lily's tense feet.

James rolled his eyes. "Not everyone's out to get you, Evans."

"_You_ obviously are," she bit back.

James' shock rolled off him and he glared back at her. "What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

Lily looked slightly taken aback. "Well, I know you had something to do with this."

"For your information, Evans," James said through gritted teeth, "I knew no more about this than you. You think I would willingly be stuck in here with you? We can't even come within three feet of each other without throwing insults."

She seemed to consider this and her face got a little redder in the small amount of light that lit the closet.

"Look, I _do_ know this prank. I played it in Sirius when we were in 6th year. Which means I would also know if there was a way to get out of it..." he paused for effect. "There isn't."

Lily's bottom lip twitched. "What kind of stupid prank was that? No reversal spell?"

James opened his mouth to reply when he heard new voices coming from outside, very familiar voices at that.

"...I'm sorry Mr. Evans, but Lily isn't available at the moment..."

James scowled as Sirius mockingly taunted their situation. Both he and Lily had their ear pressed against the door in an attempt to hear better. Lily's dad's voice cut in.

"I was told that she was coming here? You mean to say she didn't make it? Or she's come and left?"

"Let's just call it in involuntary absence for the time being." James could tell that Remus was getting nervous about the parents getting in on the prank. Remus had always been the Marauder who was the smartest, but the most reluctant. It had been a weakness in their pranks that they never quite knew how to overcome.

"Daddy! I'm in here!" Lily finally shouted, her hand banging three times on the door. Mr. Evan's footsteps got closer and they heard him jiggle the doorknob.

"Lily? Lily, sweetheart is that you?"

"Yes! Get me out please!?"

"Is this some sort of joke boys? Where's James? I should think he would be the one responsible..."

"I heard that!" James called out.

"James! Are you in there!?" Mr. Evans said with obvious confusion. "What are you doing to Lily!?"

"I didn't to anything! My bloody friends locked us in here!"

They heard someone jiggle the doorknob again.

"It's no use, Mr. Evans. I've put an anti-opening jinx on he door and it's locked magically. There's no way we're getting in or they're getting out."

James could tell that Remus had lost all the nervousness in his voice and was almost to the point of laughing now. Sirius was also chuckling and James would have given anything to kill all of them at that very moment.

There were a few moments of silence as Lily and James held their breath. Finally, Mr. Evans spoke.

"Couldn't have planned it better myself boys..." Mr. Evans chuckled.

"James! James!"

James' head perked up at the new voice and pounded again on the door.

"Dad? Dad, help me!"

"I just came to drop off those boxes of yours..."

More footsteps came in and they heard everyone greet Mr. Potter.

"Fancy a chat around the closet, do we?" He said jokingly.

"Just a little prank sir, no big deal." It seemed Sirius was trying to reassure them with these words.

"No prank is "little" with you, Sirius," Mr. Potter said half jokingly. "Where's James?"

"In here..." James said through a dejected voice.

"My Lily as well," Mr. Evans put in. "Seems the marauders fancy themselves as matchmakers."

Another bout of silence and James didn't even bother to get his hopes up this time. He knew his dad too well.

"Oh! Jolly good! Bout time someone did it to the both of them!" James' jaw dropped in amazement. "Come on, Sirius, you can come help me unload these boxes of James things I brought over..."

Their voices disappeared into the front of the house, once again leaving James and Lily alone.

Lily stared at the closed door for the next few minutes, as if maybe she could force them to come and let them out, but it was to no avail. James, knowing better, wiggled into a more comfortable position and then fixed his gaze upon her, something that he knew annoyed her to no end.

"There is no way we're both going to survive this..." she said through gritted teeth.

James shrugged and yawned. "Not my problem. I could use a good challenge that doesn't involve physical risk." He stopped abruptly and scrutinized her for a moment. "Wait, I take that back."

Lily sighed and James could tell that she was trying very hard to hold her temper.

"Shouldn't we at least try to have a civilized conversation?"

James smirked up at her. "Do you even remember the last time we had a civilized conversation?"

Her bottom lip twitched. "Right after the Spring Ball?"

James shook his head in disgust. "That was not a civilized conversation. That was you shouting at me and throwing everything in the room that wasn't nailed down at my head."

"Don't act like you didn't deserve it," she bit back at him.

James's eyes narrowed. "I can't believe you still think that."

"Did you actually have a plausible reason why you played that prank?"

They were getting into the touchy feely stage of a conversation that James didn't want to explore at the moment. "Why do you care? You didn't want to hear my explanation that night! You seemed content to just yell at me. Why should I grace you with my carefully thought up excuse now, after you've already hurt me once!"

James regretted it the moment the words left his mouth. Lily stopped dead and her eyes softened just noticeably.

"Hurt you?"

"Just forget it!" James snapped back. He could already feel himself blushing and resolutely turned away from her. This was not the time to get deeper into those old wounds. Jaems was determined not to let her in again. He had succedded once and all it had gotten him was a broken heart by the age of 17. He remembered after she had left that night, told him to get out of his life and never come back. Even through all the swelling stings, James got tears in his eyes because that beautiful girl was so angry with him. He had never cried for a girl before. And since that day, he never even tried with the anymore. He figured it wasn't worth it to go into relationships if that was how they could turn out.

They were both silent and Lily finally managed to slid down the opposite wall, bringing her knees close to her chest.

She heaved a deep sigh. "I'll never get used to these conversations we have together..."

James smiled mockingly up at her. "Well you had better get used to it sweetheart, because three days is a long time."

He winked at her, making her blush even more.

Well if she wasn't even going to try, he sure wasn't.

He yawned again, feeling the training and testing of the past week catching up with him. Stretching out as far as possible without touching Lily, he closed his eyes and resolutely fell asleep.


	5. I've Lost Her

**Title:** Pride and Prejudice (05)  
**Author name:** Eowyn Jade  
**Author email:**   
**Category:** Romance  
**Keywords:** Lily James Post-Hogwarts Romance  
**Rating:** G  
**Summary:** "I'm just relieved that now you don't want to be here as much as I don't."  
  
"And what, pray tell, is so awful about you being in here?"  
  
"You think I like being stuck in a closet with you, Potter?"  
  
James couldn't help it; she had left the comment wide open. "What's wrong Evans? A few months ago you would have pulled me into the closet yourself."  
  
James and Lily "talk".  
**DISCLAIMER:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Chapter 5 - I've Lost Her**

"I've been meaning to ask you..."

James grimaced, but did not look up as Lily continued.

"Did I hurt you with that, um, that book I threw? What was it again?"

He rolled his eyes and continued pealing the orange he was eating. At least he now knew that his "friends" didn't want him to starve. They had managed to make a basket of oranges appear in the closet between him and Lily. And since James had been starving when he got home earlier, he was already on his third orange.

"It was," James put on a prissy voice, "_Hogwarts, A History_. And yes," he glared up at her, "it hurt."

James felt no reason to be acting nice to this girl. She had only let him sleep for about 30 minutes before she bullied him awake, saying that they needed to "talk". The "talk" so far had basically been the both of them asking questions about each other. James had found out that Lily was training to be a healer, just like she had planned to in school. The problem with these talks was that James was still stuck within three feet of Lily and he could feel his old attraction for her brimming again. This was not the best of times to try and "work out their differences" as Ly had called it. James was trying hard not to stare into her eyes for too long at a time. Thankfully, the food had arrived about 15 minutes after they started, so James had some excuse not to give his full attention to the conversation.

"Oh," Lily said with a slight amount of sadness in her voice. "I didn't actually think I would have hit you."

Swallowing a piece of orange, James raised an eyebrow at her. "Evans, everything you threw at me that night hit."

"Really?"

"Yup," James threw the orange peals back into the basket and scrounged for another one. "You must have had some serious rage."

"Yah, I was a bit mad..."

James bit back the urge to laugh. A bit mad was the biggest understatement of the century...

_James rushed into the common room, barely having a breath to spare to say the password. Surely one of the teachers would know it was him...he should have been better at covering up his tracks. All he had to was get the evidence out of his room, and fast, before McGonagall caught up with him. He vaguely_ _thought of Lily and hoped that she was alright. He hadn't been able to see her in the chaos but she should be fine. This prank was for her anyway._

_James was able to make it up all of three steps before a cold voice made him stop._

_"Potter."_

_James' mouth went dry, but he didn't turn around. He hadn't heard a voice like that say his name with such disgust in a long time. He felt his heart shatter as he realized that something had gone wrong. That was not Professor McGonagall's voice._

_"Turn around right now, James Potter, and tell me what just happened..."_

_Resigned to his fate, James slowly turned to see his girlfriend, Lily Evans, standing there, her hands on her hips and her mouth in a frown. On top of that, she seemed to be covered in small little red dots that swelled on her skin._

_Bee stings._

_Crap._

_Lily was allergic._

_His eyes got wide as he examined her and saw that tears were now gathering in her eyes._

_"Why James?"_

_She said it with such remorse and betrayal that James nearly started to cry himself._

No...no this wasn't how it was supposed to happen...

_He felt his whole world fall out from underneath him._

_A second later a large object came out of nowhere, clipping him on the shoulder, causing him to cry out in pain. His eyes followed it and he saw it was a copy of "Hogwarts A History" that had been sitting on the table over by where Lily was._

_Another object zoomed at him, this time catching him in the shin. He stumbled a bit and reached down to hold his leg. That was when Lily's finally started yelling._

_"I can't believe you! How dare you pull a prank at this ball! How could you do this, James? How could you ruin this night?"_

_A few more objects including a large candle and the poker stick from the fire came wising after him. The poker stick was the only one that didn't cause major damage, though it clipped him slightly on the side as he tried to move out of the way._

_"I can't believe me! All this time, I thought you had changed! But Severus is right; you're just a bloody - no_ _-_ _good - git! Who can't even hold onto a girl for longer than a month!"_

_Finally the parade of objects stopped and through his aching arms, James was able to glance up. He saw that Lily was now standing still, a trail of tears falling down her sting covered face. James felt the tears well up in his eyes._

No...no...I've lost her...

_"We're through, Potter. Don't you ever come near me again."_

_A tear finally fell down James' face as he heard the portrait door slam behind her as she left. He stood, shell shocked for over 5 minutes, not daring to believe that had just happened._

_Dimly he heard the sound of footsteps outside the portrait and he hauled his body up to his dorm before anyone saw him._

_Gingerly changing into pajamas, minding the large bruises that were forming on his body, James climbed into be quickly and shut his curtains. He performed a quick sealing charm around his curtain so that no one could open it but him, and quickly tried to sleep. _

_James didn't bother to answer his friend's calls as they bounded up to the room, trying to find out what had happened..._

Forcing his thoughts out of the memory, James shrugged. "Not much you can do about it now." He took another bite of orange, its taste bringing him back to reality. They weren't the best of meals, oranges, especially after a whole day of Auror test...

Auror tests...?

"Bloody gits!" James cried out, suddenly remembering.

Resisting the urge to smack the nearest person (as she would probably hit him back), James settled for slamming his fist into the door while Lily watched him in confusion.

"What?"

James sighed, resigning himself to the fact that being angry right now wouldn't solve anything, but that didn't mean he couldn't kill all three of them later.

"I've got my last test for Auror training tomorrow..." he glanced at his watch in the faint light, "I mean, today...this morning...in about 6 hours..."

Gritting his teeth, James leaned back, hitting his head against the door but not even noticing the pain. Moody was literally going to kill him.

He opened his eyes to see Lily smirking at him.

"What's so funny?" he spat out, quite bitter about his current situation now that he realized it could cost him his career along with a few body parts.

"I'm just relieved that now _you_ don't want to be here as much as _I_ don't," Lily batter her eyelashes at him in a mocking way.

"And what, pray tell, is so awful about you being in here?"

Lily's face hardened a bit. "You think I like being stuck in a closet with you, Potter?"

James couldn't help it; she had left the comment wide open. "What's wrong Evans? A few months ago you would have pulled me into the closet yourself."

Lily flushed deeply and James could tell her temper was close to exploding. Thankfully, probably remembering that they were stuck together for the next three days, Lily bit it back.

"Yeah, well, things change..."

"What things?" James pressed her. They were finally getting to a part of their history that James had been dying to know since the night they broke up; Lily's side of the story.

"Don't act so naïve, Potter, you were there, you know what happened..."

James shook his head. "That's not good enough Evans. I only saw one side of the story. I think it's about time you explained yours."

She shifted a bit under his glare and refused to meet him in the eye. James took a bit of pride in the fact that she was feeling nervous. He on the other hand was racked with anticipation. This had better be one bloody good explanation.

"I don't quite know where to start," Lily finally admitted, her shoulder's drooping a bit.

"You could start with why you were so mad at me-"

"You already know that."

"You really think you know everything, don't you?"

"You're saying there's something I missed?"

"I'm saying that you should think before you act."

Lily glared at him for that statement. "Oh do tell, James Potter! What high and nobel purpose did you have for pulling such an awful prank? A dare perhaps? A way to lighten the mood in the current 'drudgery' of finals? You think that would convince me?"

"There you go again, assuming that Lily Evans is the supreme lord of the universe! For once, can't you think rationally with me?"

Lily paused again, but did not shoot an argument back. Hopeful with her silence, James continued.

"Did you ever, and I mean ever, stop to think about what the real reason was that I might have played that prank?"

He could tell the question had caught her off guard by the way her eyes widened a bit. "What?"

James set the orange that was in his hands down and decided to finally look her in the eye while he asked the question since this was something he had been wondering for a while now.

"What I mean is; I tried for so hard to get you to like me, to go out with me...Do you think I would risk our relationship by playing a prank that I purposely knew was dangerous for you? How thick do you think I am?"

He hadn't meant to say that much, or start raising his voice at the end, but both happened, and they seemed to have quiet an effect on Lily as she sat their in silence, biting her bottom lip while she considered the question.

"You mean you didn't know that I was allergic-"

"My question first, Evans," James cut her off. He wasn't going to let her get off that easy.

Lily leaned farther back away from him before answering. "I guess I was just mad that you didn't even consider that I might have been hurt. It seemed awful childish of you. You had changed so much that I thought you would maybe stop acting like such a jerk..."

James' eyebrows rose in surprise. That wasn't at all what he had expected her to say.

"But it looked like you didn't."

Deciding not to comment on the "looked like" part, James leaned back in casual triumph. He chose not to say anything else, rather let the silence do the talking for him. At last, it was Lily who cracked.

"So you didn't know...?" Lily's voice trailed off.

"No."

James could tell that that realization struck her hard as she went a little pale. Time to drop the final bomb.

"You've gone through all this time thinking that I knew that prank would hurt you?"

"Yes."

"Well that clears up a few things, doesn't it?"

"Indeed."

----

"We are in deep-"

"Don't even think about it, Sirius," Remus cut him off. "We can fix this."

_Yeah right..._Remus thought. Anything that made Sirius and Remus scared was something to be taken seriously. Peter on the other hand was scared of everything.

Sirius looked at him with wide, fearful eyes. "Yeah? You got an idea?"

"I vote we hide," Peter put in. "Run and hide."

"There's no where we can go where either James of Moody won't find us," Remus argued back.

"And kill us," Sirius added.

"Oh, isn't that a lovely though?"

Remus continued pacing the family room as they all waited with bated breath for Moody to come charging through the door. They apparently had "forgotten" that James' last test for Auror training was tomorrow, or rather, today. Moody had apparently heard "through the grapevine" that the latest Marauder prank involved James being locked up in a closet for several days. He had not been very happy about it.

Remus, Peter and Sirius had all been staying the night at Godric's Hollow when a very angry Moody flooed them, demanding to know where James was. As they all tried to blubber out an explanation, Moody cut them off, informing them that he would be their within the hour. It had been about a quarter to midnight then.

Remus glanced at the clock and saw that it was about 12:30 in the morning.

He gulped. Peter was right. They were all going to die.

"Well at least they're not yelling anymore," Sirius added, motioning back to the closet where Lily and James were still stuck. Remus had to agree that they were being relatively good in there. A small part of him hoped that they might have already made amends, but he knew both of them too well. It would take longer than that. About a half hour ago they had heard a large thump and James had cursed loudly at someone. Remus was guessing it was them. But since then the closet had been quiet.

"They probably fell asleep," Peter said with a slight smile. "Too bad we can't take a picture. Prongs would pay big for us to not display it around Diagon Alley."

"Pete, the point of this was so James wouldn't care if they were together," Remus said exasperatedly. He finally was sitting down, drumming his fingers along the arm of his chair, drilling his mind for any spell that would let them open the door before three days was over. He had already looked through almost every book he could find, all the while cursing himself and James for being to clever. Now he was left to his own thinking.

Luckily, or unluckily, he didn't have to think to long.

A loud knock was heard on the door, making everyone jump suddenly.

"Moody," Peter said with a gulp.

Remus was just at the point of making Sirius go and get the door when a gravely voice was heard behind them.

"What a time for you boys to pull one of your pranks..."

They all jumped again, this time to their feet, whirling around to see Mad-Eye Moody standing there, his walking stick in one hand and a crumpled piece of parchment in the other. Remus squinted and was able to make out the markings on the seal.

_OotP_

"That's from the Order!" Sirius hissed softly, pointing to the parchment.

Remus, Peter and James all had parents in the Order so it was no mystery to them what t was. Sirius, though having no relatives in the Order because of his dark family history, learned much about it from James. James was actually the only member of the order in the Marauder's circle. He had turned 18 about 2 months ago and was inducted then. Sirius would be 18 soon along with Peter and Remus, but this letter surely had something to do with James.

Remus took a small step forward. "What is it? Another attack?"

"Much worse, m'boy. Much worse..." Moody suddenly seemed very old and unwilling to talk as his head hung a bit. "Where's James?"

----

James was startled awake by footsteps outside the door followed by Remus' kind but wavering voice.

"I doubt that there's any way you can open it..."

Seconds later a bright light came through the cracks of the door, waking Lily who sat up confused. They must have both fallen asleep mid conversation because James couldn't remember actually wanting to fall asleep again. Talking with Lily had been somewhat....refreshing. It got a lot of weight off his chest and though he wasn't ready to start full out snogging her again, the wall between them had lessened somewhat.

"Come on, Potter, no time to waste."

James jumped to attention as Moody's voice came through and the door flew open. His eyes widened as he realized what Moody had just done.

"How'd you do that, Alastor? We always thought it was impossible-"

Moody hastily cut him off, waving the question away. "Later, son. I didn't come here just to break you out of your friend's idea of a joke..."

James finally noticed the piece of paper crumpled in Moody's hand with the Order's seal on it. James was the only actual member of the Order at the moment, him being older than the other three. Sirius' birthday was next month. Remus and Peter both had their birthday's before the end of the year as well. But so far, it had just been James, though he had never done much for them yet. He had always wanted to do something important for the war against Voldemort, but many still thought him too young and immature. That's why he had agreed to take Auror training when Dumbledore suggested it. It was a way to prove that he could make a difference.

"What is it...?" James asked with a hint of reservation. The grave look on Moody's face and how he was not snapping at them for pulling pranks on each other...something was terribly wrong. James, though excited about the prospect of finally being able to _do_ something, felt a deep sense of dread as his eyes kept falling on the piece of parchment.

"Another attack," Moody finally said. He glanced towards Lily who was climbing out of the closet with a confused look in her face,nd gave her a small nod in acknowledgement. He then turned back to James and laid a grizzly hand on his shoulder.

"They've left the Dark Mark over Perrimen Lane, James."

James' heart stopped as he heard the words. Perrimen Lane...that was where his parent's lived.


	6. No One Opposes Lord Voldemort

**Chapter 6 - No One Opposes Lord Voldemort**

As soon as James apparated onto Perrimen Lane, he knew he was too late. Though it was in the middle of the night, he could see everything, illuminated by the Dark Mark that flew above them. His eyes shot upward and his insides went cold as he saw the skull and the snake, their eerie green glow attracting the attention of everyone around. Seconds later he heard several pops around him as Auror's appeared, starting to comb the street and up towards the house.

James stood in shock for several seconds, ignoring the commands and orders that were being shouted back and forth between the Aurors around him. He was only pulled out of it when a hand lay on his shoulder and he gasped slightly, whirling around to see that it was only Sirius.

"Where are the others?" James whispered.

"They're taking Lily home...Look, Prongs, we didn't-"

"Don't blame yourself," James had cut him off quietly. He looked back at the house. "They were supposed to be safe..."

Indeed, the Potters home was quite well protected for any attack, Richard and Samantha being on Voldemort's high target list: Both Auror's and purebloods, both having confronted Voldemort before...

James still had nightmares about it.

"So why aren't you going in there?" Sirius said angrily.

James' anger flared up, but not at Sirius, at everyone else. "I'm not an Auror yet...I'm supposed to keep back..."

"That's bloody bull-"

"No," James cut him off again, his voice still silent. "They're right. I could make things worse."

Neither of them said anything for a while. James could see that Sirius was unsure of how to act in this situation. Luckily, just standing there with him made James feel slightly better, knowing that if the worst had happened, his friends would still be there for him.

"Alpha team, move into the house! Let's go!"

James heard that order and immediately looked back to the house, seeing about a dozen men and women stealthily creeping towards the dark and eerie house that James had always known as home. A sharp pain stabbed in his gut as he saw how destroyed it was. The windows and doors were completely blown out. The siding was scratched up and down, and the carefully tended roof that he had helped fix on numerous occasions was starting to cave in.

Sirius seemed to sense his growing apprehension, because he squeezed James' shoulder slightly, as if signaling that he was still there, still there for him.

But something happened then that no one had been expecting.

A chilling voice resounded through the house, speaking the two most terrible words James had ever heard in his life.

"_Avada Kedavra_!"

James gasped as he heard a scream sound out, and then stop abruptly, a green light coming from the house cutting it off.

"NO!"

James couldn't wait any longer. It didn't matter that Moody didn't think it was safe for him. It didn't matter that he wasn't a fully trained Auror yet.

That had been his mother's scream. _That_ was all that mattered at this moment.

The Auror's who had been moving towards the house had stopped dead at the cry of the killing curse. James rushed past all of them, his vision growing blurry as he found tears running down his face.

Faster...faster...

Taking the front steps two at a time, he bounded into the house, wand ready, not caring about who or what he would meet, only knowing that he _had to do something_!

He vaguely heard Sirius' shouts for him to come back along with several other people's cries for him. He did not heed any of them.

The house smelled old and rotten as he flew into it, which was odd considering that his parents were wealthy enough to keep their house in prime condition all the time.

He stopped dead in the middle of the living room. Just under a week ago he had stood here, talking with the Lupin's and Mr. Evans, joking about the stupid pranks he and Lily had done to each other...everything that had seemed to be important then was no longer even a thought in James mind.

He turned to the stairs and was about to step up them before a cruel voice sounded behind him.

"James Potter."

Stopping dead, James felt, for the first time tonight, the hot pain of fear grip at his throat and he gripped his wand tighter as he turned to face him.

Voldemort.

He barely looked like a man, his skin so pale and translucent. His long bony fingers gripped a phoenix feather core wand that had performed more killing curses than any other wand in history. He was taller than James by a few inches, but James was too angry to care about that. He was too angry to care about how he was only 18 years old. He was too angry to care about how he wasn't even an Auror yet.

Voldemort seemed to sense this in his and he smiled evilly.

"So we meet again, James. How long has it been now? Just a little over a year I should think..."

James flinched at the memory. Voldemort had indeed appeared at the Potter's house just over a year ago, during James summer break. Peter, Sirius and Remus had all been there as well. Voldemort came to offer James' parents the Dark Mark.

_"It could be your greatest honor," he had told the Potters, both of them with their wands out, pointed towards him. James and the rest of the Marauders stood a little off to the side, unsure of how to act or what to do. James remembered the look on his parents face as they heard those words._

_"Oh, greatest honor, aye? To die working for a bloody nutter who calls himself a wizard?" James saw his father move slightly in front of his mother, shielding her from Voldemort's view. _

_Voldemort's face had then gone into a type of evil pout and he stared strangely at Richard Potter. "Such power, Richard. Such absolute power you hold in your family line. It would be a shame to waste it working for the side that's not going to win."_

_James's dad cracked then, sending a stunning curse towards Voldemort who dodged it easily, disappearing in a cloud of smoke and reappearing right next to the four Marauders who looked fearful at him._

"James Potter..."

James was snapped out of the memory once again by Voldemort's voice.

"Surely you are not going to decline my offer again? Especially now that you are starting to realize the full potential of your powers..." he paused briefly and James suddenly wondered why no one was coming in to help him. Had Voldemort already gotten all of them?

At once, James was tempted to send a spell towards Voldemort, but this was not the best of circumstances to get into a duel with him. Besides, it wouldn't be a Potter that ended this war. Men like Dumbledore, Moody and people with ambition like Sirius would be the wizarding world's best hope.

"Boy, you sure are persistent," James spat at him. "Can't you take no for an answer?"

Voldemort looked at him with a small amount of mocking pity. "Such a shame that you're going to die as your father did, James. Oh yes," he added, seeing James' face blanch at the mention of his father. "Did I not make it clear?" His face immediately darkened. "No one opposes Lord Voldemort..."

James' temper flared and he raised his wand up, shouting the stunning curse at Voldemort, just as his father had done, but of course, it made no contact. James panicked; he saw no sign of Voldemort in the room anymore, a mere billow of smoke where he had been. He glanced round nervously, his adrenaline running and more tears escaping his eyes.

Without warning, a cold hand grabbed him from behind, twisting his wand hand, causing his wand to drop uselessly to the ground. Wide-eyed, James could barely breath as he felt Voldemort's cold breath near his shoulder.

"Your last chance James..." He whispered to him. "I can make you powerful. In your heart you know that. I can show you power that even Dumbledore does not know of...

"Never..." James gritted his teeth, struggling to get out of Voldemort's grip.

"One of your friends has already accepted my offer, boy..."

James once again felt his insides turn cold. What did that mean? Did Remus or one of them...?

"Yes, Potter. One of your ever so faithful friends is already in my loyal service."

James sucked in a quick breath, his eyes darting around the room, trying not to pay attention to what the dark wizard was saying. Surly it couldn't be true, it just couldn't...

"You can join him in my service..."

James gritted his teeth as he fought for control over his emotions. It had to be a trick that Voldemort was using, a way of getting through James' reasoning powers.

"No," he spat out, angrier than he could ever remember being in his life.

"We shall meet again, James Potter, make no doubt of that. You shall see the truth soon enough, or you will follow your parents into their graves."

Abruptly, Voldemort vanished and James tumbled to the ground, his arm throbbing from where Voldemort had been holding him and his head aching with the knowledge he had just received...

_A traitor..._

Finally sounds were heard outside. Auror's barged into the house, immediately spreading over the three floors, running everywhere. The first one to come into the room where James was was Sirius, his face white and fearful as he rushed over to his best friend.

"Prongs...? James...James are you alright?"

James turned to look at Sirius, his mind racing. No, it couldn't be Sirius...not Sirius. They would die for each other, ever and always.

Unwillingly, tears pricked at James eyes as the full impact of what had just happened hit him. The whole conversation with Voldemort got pushed aside as he remembered that the Dark Mark was glowing above them and Both James' parents lay dead in this house.

He was an orphan.

Sirius' bottom lip trembled and he was getting teary as well. James knew the Potters had been like parents to him as well. This would not be easy for either of them.

Sirius knelt down on the floor beside James and wrapped him in a brotherly hug. James returned it instantly as they both felt the tears run down their face.

_"Brothers...friends to the end," Sirius had told him during their sixth year._

_"I'd die for you, you know that?" James had added._

_"Same here," Sirius had surprisingly said._

And that night, they each died a little for each other: Sirius loosing some of himself for James tremendous loss, and James loosing a bit of himself for Sirius, who lost a family all over again.

------

Remus and Lily both arrived at the same instant outside her parent's house, careful to appear in the woods nearby so that no one would notice them. Peter would have joined them but he made up the excuse that he wanted to stay at Godric's Hollow, incase people came there looking for any of them. Remus admitted that it was a good point and had reluctantly agreed to take Lily home himself.

Remus peaked out onto the street and when he was confident that there was nothing there, carefully started leading Lily towards her house.

"I still don't understand why I can't go back to my apartment," Lily said in an irritable voice. She was still rather sore at Remus for locking her in the closet with James, but it all seemed quite trivial now that they both could guess what James was going through over on Perrimen Lane.

"It's safer for you here right now..." Remus said casually. "Nobody wants you to get hurt."

Lily stopped following suddenly, causing Remus to stop and look back at her.

"Who would want to hurt me?"

Remus sighed and ran a hand through his hair trying to figure out how to explain this to her. Making a quick decision, he grabbed her, pulling her into the darkness of the woods once more and with a swish of his wand, preformed a concealment charm around them so that they couldn't be heard.

"Lily, have you ever heard of the Order of the Phoenix?"

She frowned. "Dumbledore founded it, didn't he? To fight against Voldemort?"

Remus nodded glumly. "Well, certain members of the Order feel that the attack tonight could trigger more attacks on other people...including you."

Lily raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Why? What are you not telling me, Remus?"

Remus had never been that good of a liar, especially to Lily. They had both been good friends throughout their last two years of school and learned to trust one another. Lily knew this as well so she patiently waited for him to crack.

"James is a member of the Order," he finally blurted out.

Lily looked taken aback at the revelation and she took a slight step back. "James? Are you serious?"

Remus glanced around nervously, deciding to just get the explanation out quickly. "They're afraid that since James still cares for you that Voldemort will attack you to get back at James even more."

As soon as he said it, Remus felt the blood drain from his face. That was not what he had meant to say...

Lily's eyes widened at the words and she quickly grabbed Remus before he could get away.

"What do you mean, James still cares about me?" she said with a hint of anger.

_She must think I'm nuts_, Remus thought to himself as he frantically tried to figure out something to say.

"It's not my place to say, Lily..."

"Why would Voldemort want to hurt James?"

Remus silently scolded himself for letting her have so much information.

"Once again, Lily, it's not my place to say..."

Lily dropped his wrist, sighing heavily as she realized that Remus wasn't going to tell her.

"You're a good friend, Remus."

Remus looked at her with all the apology he could muster. "I'm just trying to protect you, Lily...and James."

He noticed Lily bit her bottom lip slightly as she heard James' name.

When she didn't reply, Remus got out his wand, removing the concealment charm. Then, grabbing her wrist, quickly lead her up to the front step of her parent's house. When they reached it, he unlocked the door with his wand and finally turned to Lily who seemed to be having some internal conflict with herself.

"Lily?"

Her head snapped up slightly and she managed too look him in the eyes. "Yeah?"

"Everything's going to be okay. You know that, right?"

She gave him a worn smile. "A lot of people say that Remus...but it's becoming harder to believe."

"Why?"

Lily sighed and Remus could tell that she was still not sure about the answer to that question herself.

"It's complicated..."

"Life is always complicated. That's why you have friends."

She shot him a shy look. "You're my friend, right, Remus?"

Remus shrugged. "I guess that's how you could describe our relationship."

"You're James' friend too, right?"

"What are you getting at?" Remus asked her with a smile.

Lily waved it off, "Never mind...People have my important things to worry about..."

They were both silent for a moment.

Remus frowned and put a hand under her chin. "You don't have to be afraid..."

"But I am..." a small tear slid down her cheek and she hurriedly reached up to wipe it away. Remus wasn't quite sure whether she was referring to her relationship with James or with the War against Voldemort. "I'm afraid every day. Every time I walk into the wizarding world I remember that I'm muggle born. I remember that there's some pshyco killer out there that wants me dead. I remember the look on James' face when I broke up with him. I remember what it felt like to kiss him. I remember when my sister spat in my face, calling me a freak and storming out of the house, never speaking to me again..."

More tears continued to fall and she didn't reach up to wipe them.

"I remember everything...everything that I don't want to..."

"Irony is a man's worst enemy, especially when it comes to matter of the heart or matters of life and death..." Remus thought he sounded stupid saying that but she seemed to relax a little bit and wiped the remaining tears out of her eyes. "We can't always change what happened, but we can do out best to make sure they never happen again."

"What about things you can't control?" Lily said quietly. "What about...what about other people in your life?"

Remus hesitated. He was the last person who should be answering these questions for Lily, but it seemed he was the only person she wanted to hear from.

"My mom used to always tell me to make sure that any person I came in contact would leave my sight a better person than they were before. I've tried to live true to her council since I went to Hogwarts."

She raised an eyebrow. "James and Sirius?"

"Well, I kinda failed with them," he admitted.

She laughed shortly, sniffling a bit. "Thanks Remus. I needed that."

Remus managed to give her a confident smile and leaned down to give her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Take care of yourself, Lily..." he threw his hood on and gave her a wink before turning. "We'll be in touch."

He started off back towards the woods but stopped when she called out to him.

"Remus?"

He turned with concern.

She hesitated a moment, then finally said, "I want to help..."

He let out a relieved breath. "When do you turn 18?"

"Three months."

That was good, since Remus would become a member in about two and a half.

"Remind me then," he winked at her again and continued on his way. Upon reaching the woods, he turned back once more and saw that she was just closing the door. He waited until he heard the bolt lock click before disapperating back to Godric's Hollow where, hopefully, James, Sirius and Peter would be waiting for him.


	7. Let's Give Them Something to Talk About

**Chapter Seven - Let's Give Them Something to Talk About**

Nearly a month had passed since the fateful night at Perrimen Lane when James' life literally turned upside down. The worst of the nightmares left James after a week or so, though his friends were still convinced he wasn't sleeping through the night. Sirius had caught James having a fit once when he was taking a rest on his couch. Remus wondered aloud if Voldemort might be sending James visions, but James didn't ever talk to anyone about his dreams. He still hadn't told anyone about what Voldemort had told him...about the traitor; though he did keep a sharper eye out for any suspicious activity from his friends for a while. After 3 days of finding nothing, James figured he had shaken off that ordeal, but was still plagued by silent nightmares.

Directly after the legal business was done regarding his parent's deaths, James threw himself into his Auror work, passing his final test with flying colors and rising high in the ministry in just a matter of weeks, mostly because he didn't seem to care about anything, or anyone else. Sirius passed his test as well, rising right by James side, determined not to let his friend down again. Sirius also had joined the Order of the Phoenix, his 18th birthday coming and going right in the middle of one of his and James' assignments to Italy where they had tracked a band of death eaters accused of aiding Voldemort in his most recent attack on the town of Hogsmead. Remus was due next, and Peter soon after him. James, now a fully qualified Auror, was given many more assignments with the Order, mostly being paired with Sirius. That along with his regular Auror job gave him an exhausting schedule. None of his friends could help but notice the constant bags under his eyes and his continual depression.

None of the Marauders had quite forgiven themselves for pulling that prank on James and Lily even though neither of them had cast blame on anyone. James reminded his friends several times that he wouldn't have made a difference, but the guilt still weighed heavily upon them.

Godric's Hollow was now fully habitable, full mostly of furniture that James, Sirius, Remus and Peter had salvaged from the ruined house that was now completely destroyed on Perrimen Lane. James was there enough to keep it in good shape, though work and the Order took him out of his home more than he enjoyed. He ended up hiring a cleaning lady to come help him. Sirius had teased him a bit when the employee had showed up and turned out to be a rather attractive witch just out of Hogwarts who was saving to go to med witch school. She had introduced herself as Tanya Higgins. Every Saturday Tanya came and she and James gave the house a good once over, cleaning the nooks and crannies and keeping the backyard looking in top condition. Sirius joked about how James had wanted his house in prime condition for Lily, but a sharp look from James had immediately shut him up on the subject and non of the Marauders ever questioned James' changed behavior anymore.

Remus and Peter came to help clean once, but James didn't count on the Marauder's help very much on Saturdays. Peter was finally working at the Ministry in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office. Remus had started training on becoming an investigator in the Search and Seizure department of the Ministry. Though his handicap kept him from doing Auror training like he wanted to, a top level recommendation from Dumbledore got him into the S&S. And Sirius, more often than not, had an Auror shift on Saturdays. But James, now one of the top 4th Division Aurors, was rewarded with an entire weekend off.

Neither James nor Lily had spoken to anyone about what happened that night in the closet. Nor had they spoken to each other since that night. Lily had come to Godric's Hollow on several occasions when Nikkie came to visit Sirius (who practically lived in James' house himself, as his small flat was too dirty to be classified as "habitable"). Though on all these occasions, James and Lily rarely made eye contact, much less spoke.

Everyone, once again, was starting to get annoyed.

"If only we could get them both to see how miserable they were."

"Well it's not like we're keeping them apart. Sirius and I practically shoved them together last time we were at Godric's Hollow. We went back in the room and James was doing some thing for work and Lily had fallen asleep on the couch!"

Sirius gave a loud, dramatic sigh and ran a hand down his face.

"They're too bloody stubborn for their own good."

Remus, Sirius, Peter, Frank, Nikkie and Alice were all gathered together inside The Three Broomsticks, most of them with a bottle of Butterbeer, but a select few nursing a Firewiskey.

"All I'm saying is that, even if we can get them to both go to this ball, we need to have some other ideas about how to actually get them together," Remus explained.

"Speaking of which," Sirius turned to Nikkie, "Are you having any luck getting Lily to go?"

Nikkie wrinkled her nose and glanced down at the table as she spoke. "She says she'll go, but she doesn't want to stay for very long." She looked back up and smiled nervously. "I'm supposed to meet her here in a little while to go shopping for it."

Sirius frowned at his girlfriend and raised a skeptical eyebrow toward her. "That's great, Nick...So why are you nervous?"

Nikkie pursed her lips as she considered the question and suddenly became very interested in wiping off the condensation off her Butterbeer bottle. But everyone's eyes boring into her head finally made her squeak out an answer. "Well, she kinda, sorta thinks..." she paused and looked regretfully up at Sirius. "She doesn't think that James is going to be there."

No one spoke for several seconds, not knowing that they were all thinking the same thing. Finally, Remus voiced their thoughts.

"It's bloody brilliant! Let's do the same thing with James."

------

James fiddled with the collar on his formal robes as it clenched his neck, making it difficult to breathe. The fact that the room was burning hot didn't help much either. James found the music that the band was playing excessively dull and the fact that all anyone wanted to talk about was politics didn't help much either.

The formal ball had been organized by the Department of Mysteries to raise money for...something. James frowned. No one knew really what it was for, but then again, it was another excuse for all the diplomat types to dress in their most expensive outfits and complain about the current Minister of Magic.

James had been required to come, on the account of his ranking in the Auror division of the Ministry, but that didn't mean he would enjoy it any more. He had always hated formal wear, especially since he had been given a set of Auror dress robes. Not only were they heavy and probably worth more than the rest of his robes combined, he was also supposed to be able to hid an assortment of Auror tools in them.

Whoever designed this was a world class git... James thought to himself, once again rearranging his hidden wand so that it wouldn't dig into the side of his chest.

He turned slightly as he heard Sirius start laughing again, grimacing as he saw that his best friend seemed to be having the time of his life. Remus and Peter were there with him as they talked to the current Deputy Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge.

He had been surprised to hear that Sirius was attending, much less that he would actually be wearing what he was supposed to. Sirius had acquired a kind of infamous name around Hogwarts for never having shown up to a ball in a suitable outfit. At their 6th year Winter Ball, the theme was "Winter Wonderland" and Sirius had shown up in swimming trunks and sunglasses. Professor McGonagall had, of course, scolded and shooed him back into the Gryffindor Common room, but not before most of the girls in the school had noticed that he wasn't wearing a shirt.

Another time he had shown up in bright neon orange robes that seemed to blind everyone who looked at them straight on, to a very formal 5th year type of "Prom".

The best was during their graduation when Sirius had charmed the doors to the great hall where when anyone walked through them, that person's wardrobe would change into their exact opposite. Only problem was, the person couldn't see that his or her robes had changed; yet everyone else could. James still remembered trying to give his Head Boy speech as he saw Snape dressed in a Tutu and Sirius giving him thumbs up in a Salmon colored Cocktail dress. James had later found out that his hadn't been that bad...well, not bad compared to everyone else. Apparently James' formal robes had changed into a very droopy gown that almost resembled a Seer's dress. That at least explained why he had seemed to be tripping over his feet all night.

"James!"

He jerked his head back up to see Alice Prewett making her way towards him, smiling and waving, dragging someone behind her.

Not her, anyone but her...

James grimaced as he saw that it was Lily Evans who stopped in front of him, Alice Prewett between them, her eyes twinkling as she saw their eyes lock.

"Fancy meeting you here, James? I didn't know you were coming?"

James frowned. What was she talking about, of course Alice had known. Frank was in the Auror division too. "What do you-"

He was cut off as someone stabbed him sharply in the back. He whirled to see Sirius looking at him, an oddly closed expression on his face.

"What?" James hissed.

Sirius raised his eyebrows expectantly. Play along, he mouthed.

Knowing Sirius well enough that it was probably a prank of some sort, James gave a long sigh and turned back to Alice and Lily.

"Yeah, well the whole Auror division was invited, and Moody insisted that I come." That was a lie, of course; unless you call "insisting," "threatening your life at the point of a wand".

His eyes flicked over to Lily and saw that she had been staring curiously at him.

Alice followed his eyes.

"You remember Lily, don't you, James? Old girlfriend, love of your life?"

James mentally cursed Sirius in the back of his mind. That definitely was not what he had been expecting to hear tonight. Both he and Lily blushed deeply and Alice seemed only encouraged by it.

"Well aren't you going to say hi?" she asked them defiantly.

James gathered up his courage and turned to Lily. He inclined his head a bit. "Evans."

She mimicked him. "Potter."

"You guys are as dry as Professor Binns," Alice said through a huff. "Now go on, James, say hi in a proper manner."

James glared over at Alice but she didn't seem to notice. He turned back to Lily and a thought came to his head. Holding out his hand he said softly,

"Good evening, Miss Evans."

Lily managed to keep her cool as she reached out to take his hand. "Good evening, Mr. Potter."

However, when Lily's hand touched his, instead of shaking it, he brought it up to his lips, kissing her softly on the knuckles. He felt her tense slightly as she was pulled towards him a little and it brought a smile to his face. At least he now knew that he affected her as bad as she affected him. There might be some hope yet.

He looked up into her eyes right after the kiss and saw that she was flushed, her expression full of confusion. He then looked at Alice who had her mouth wide open in astonishment and he could see that he mind was working fast. Suddenly James realized all the horrible things Alice could do to him at that very moment.

"James! Oh I have an idea!" Alice said with excitement.

James quickly dropped Lily's hand and turned to Alice with a sinking feeling.

"Why don't you ask Lily to dance?"

For the second time that night, James started. He frowned just noticeably. "What?"

Alice chuckled. "Dance, you know, to music?"

"Alice..." James warned her through gritted teeth.

"Oh nonsense!" She said happily. "You two have know each other for a while and besides, I have to go find Frank, so if you'll excuse me..."

Before either of them could say another word, Alice had disappeared into the crowd. James frantically turned around, but Sirius was even mysteriously gone, along with Remus and Peter.

"They did it again," Lily said with a sigh as he finally turned to face her, resigning himself to the fact.

James at once knew what she was talking about.

"I feel pretty dense getting caught twice," Lily admitted with a small smile, her gloved hands fingering the glass of Butterbeer she held.

"You?" James said with an exasperated grin. "I got all the way through Hogwarts without getting pranked, and now Sirius has caught me twice!" He mocked a headache. "He is never going to let me live this down."

Lily laughed lightly, one of the most beautiful sounds James had ever heard. He realized that he hadn't heard her laugh since they had been going out all those months ago. Hearing her laugh again made him actually smile for real.

This was the first time they had talked since the "closet incident", but so far things were going quite smoothly. Never mind the fact that only a few moments had passed. James congratulated himself for any victory with Lily he could get.

"It's good to hear you laugh," he admitted to her.

Lily blushed slightly but couldn't seem to think of anything to say. James was surprised that he wasn't that nervous, so he decided to take advantage of it.

"You look really beautiful tonight, Lily."

Indeed, she was rather stunning: Robes of deep green that brought out her eyes and accented her curves just so, her hair done up formally on her head, twisted and crowned with a few clips that matched the color of her robes. James at once was reminded of the different outfits she had worn to the balls they had gone to together. He made a quiet but firm decision that this one topped them all.

"You don't look so bad yourself, James," she offered back. James smiled slightly, fingering his collar again as he was reminded of the formality of the occasion. "Though I must say, I didn't expect you here tonight."

James raised a curious eyebrow. "Oh?"

Lily seemed rather embarrassed and took a small sip from her cup. "Well, to tell you the truth, Alice and Nikkie both said that you weren't coming tonight."

James frowned. "And Sirius assured me that you weren't going to be here as well."

There was a moment of awkward silence as both of them put the pieces together in their heads.

"Well at least I can understand why they did that. It's been a crazy few weeks for me," James finally decided to start. "But avoiding you has been far harder than anything else I've had to put up with."

Lily bit her bottom lip as she listened. James wasn't sure what she was thinking so he decided to continue.

"Don't get me wrong, I still feel like I want to murder Sirius every time I think about what they did, but, I'm kinda...well...glad that it happened," he finished lamely, not really knowing how to put it. He actually had given it a lot of thought, despite the fact that everyone currently thought he was too obsessed with his new job to think about anything else.

But there were always those sleepless nights when thinking about her made his situation in life seem just the least bit better.

Lily finally looked up at him with a smile and nodded. "Yeah, me too."

His eyebrows shot up. That had not been what he was expecting. Lily noticed this and seemed embarrassed as she tried to explain.

"To tell you the truth, I was hoping that we would have, at least some time, to be able to sit down and talk about what happened." She looked shyly up at him. "We always seemed to be fighting though."

Trying to cover up her embarrassment, James cleared his throat. "Well I guess that arguing confirms that we're not supposed to be together." It hurt him to say it, but after all his thinking, it was the best plan he had come up with.

He was momentarily surprised to notice Lily blanch slightly, but she covered it so quickly that he wasn't sure it had really happened. "Yeah, I mean, imagine us together," she giggled half-heartedly. "Like a walking time bomb or something."

"Yeah..."

Another awkward silence hung between them. James dimly heard the conversations around him and the foggy music playing in the background.

Suddenly, he felt a pair of eyes watching him. Or more like pairs of eyes watching him. Careful to not move too much, James shifted his eyes slightly and saw Sirius, Remus and Nikkie standing over by the refreshments table, watching him and Lily out of the corner of their eyes.

James' eyes flicked back to Lily and she was looking slightly in the other direction. Following her eyes, he saw Alice, Frank and Peter in a similar huddle as they studied Lily and James as well.

James, surprised by his own daring, suddenly held his hand up to Lily. She blinked in surprise as she saw it, and then looked up at him. Flashing his best smile, James motioned to the dance floor with a nod of his head.

"Let's give them something to talk about."


	8. People Like You, People Like Me

**Chapter 8 - People Like You, People Like Me**

Lily tried hard to ignore the stares around her as James led her along the dance floor. Every so often she caught sight of one of her friends, or one of his friends, and the same dumbfounded expression seemed to be on all of their faces. Lily was trying her best not to give them something to work with, but it was becoming increasingly harder.

Truth be told, she was actually enjoying herself...a lot. To top that off, James was still an excellent dancer. And to top that off, he was wearing the same kind of cologne that he used to wear when they were dating.

_Bullocks_, she thought to herself.

The number they were currently dancing to was slightly slow so they weren't going too fast, but Lily already seemed to be tripping over herself as she realized how long it had been since she had danced.

"Danger at 12 o'clock," James whispered to her suddenly.

They twirled slightly so Lily could look. Sure enough, a huddle of people stood just off the dance floor, obviously plotting something. She grimaced as she recognized Sirius, Remus, Peter, Alice and Nikkie all there. Frank was standing next to the huddle, holding a bottle of Butterbeer in one hand. He seemed to be a kind of lookout, for when he saw Lily looking, he casually ducked back into the group and a few faces turned their way.

Lily turned back to James as they continued dancing. "When are they going to give it up?" she said, slightly irritated.

She saw James smile slightly and he looked back down at her. "So you aren't having fun?"

It was more of a statement than a question, but Lily couldn't help but notice the way his bottom lip twitched as he said it.

"Actually, I haven't been dancing in a while," she admitted. "I feel clumsy."

In the background she could hear the song drawing to an end and James started slowing them down.

"You shouldn't," James said quickly. "You're doing a great job."

Lily blushed slightly, even though she knew he was saying it just to be polite. She must have stepped on his feet over 10 times just in the last 2 songs.

"And no," James added, as if sensing her thoughts, "I'm not saying that to just be polite." He paused as the song finally ended and they stopped all together. "I haven't been to any dances since we broke up either."

Lily frowned slightly. How in the world could he have known that she hadn't danced since then? A sad and reminiscing look suddenly flickered across his face and she stopped wondering.

"Well, if you don't want to dance, let's go for a walk." James held out his hand to her again, his other hand motioning to the nearest double doors that led to the spacious balcony wrapping around the building.

Lily hesitated. "Actually, James, I really..."

"Please, Lily."

She was so taken aback by the absolute sincerity in his voice that she found herself accepting his hand and walking out into the cool, night air.

She noticed that he didn't let go of her hand when they finally went outside, but she didn't pull away either. The comfortable feeling of his hand in hers was something she had not felt for a long time.

They were both silent as they walked. Lily heard the music start up again inside, reminding her of the "fan club" that was probably now stalking 20 feet behind them, itching to see something happen.

Let them watch, Lily thought ruefully. Purposely she stepped just slightly closer to James as they walked. If he noticed, he made no sign of it. She suddenly realized how familiar this was to her. It was almost like nothing had ever happened between them.

Almost.

Suddenly, something happened that Lily did not expect. She started feeling a tingling on her hands and, without looking down, realized what was happening.

Often during their patrols in the halls during their 7th year, James would absentmindedly start rubbing his thumb along the back of Lily's hand, an affectionate gesture that had always made her heart flutter and her mind turn into a useless blob of mush.

Not being able to take it anymore, Lily glanced down at their intertwined hands, James' thumb lightly going back and forth along her knuckles. Her movement seemed to snap James back into reality.

Before she could say anything, he recoiled, a sorrowful and apologetic look on his face.

"Sorry," he muttered, clearly embarrassed. "I guess some old habits never leave."

Lily felt slightly put out when he stuck his hands back in his pockets as they continued their walk.

But that was probably better, for both of them, anyway.

James was right. They just didn't fit.

----

Sure enough, almost exactly 20 feet behind the walking "couple", Sirius Black, Nikkie Ralston, Alice Prewett, Frank Longbottom, Peter Pettigrew and even Remus Lupin, all swore together loudly at the same time.

Lucky for them, James and Lily didn't notice.

"So that was, what? Plan R?" Frank said with a hint of discouragement.

"More like Z," Remus added, leaning back and rubbing his forehead in exhaustion. "I'm out of ideas."

Sirius whirled around to stare at Remus with wide eyes of disbelief. "Are you a Marauder or not?" He snarled, clearly miffed that their plan had not worked. "We don't just 'run out of ideas'," he continued in exasperation.

"Well, who's to say that we need to interfere?" Nikkie said suddenly.

Everyone looked at her questionably.

"Well, interfere directly," she added hastily, brandishing her wand as she spoke. "Are we wizards or not? A never ending charm on this balcony should do the job." They all still looked confused and she rolled her eyes. "So that they can just keep walking on..."

"And on and on..." Sirius finished, finally getting the point. "Not bad, Nick," he gave her a quick peck on the cheek and she blushed with pleasure.

----

Lily tried not to tug at the tight fastenings on her dress robes, but she was getting fidgety and nervous. She and James had been walking for over half an hour now and Lily was getting the distinct impression that something was wrong.

James had (of course) acted like the prefect gentlemen all night, which was starting to make her annoyed. Where was the immature prat who teased her, and played pranks and asked her out five times a day?

She wanted to convince herself that the old James Potter was still there, hiding, just waiting to emerge when she finally put her guard down. She wanted to convince herself that she still didn't have any feelings for this man.

She wanted to convince herself that she had every right to break up with him in the first place.

_Darn James Potter for being so perfect!_

"Lily?"

Lily turned towards James who had stopped walking and was looking around them curiously.

"What is it?" She frowned, trying to see what had stopped him.

He held up a hand to her as he studied the floor. She watched carefully as he took one step, then two and for some reason...

He didn't even move.

She frowned, trying to figure out what was wrong. Was the balcony purposely charmed that way? Something told her no. James seemed to figure it out before her as he looked up with a slight smile on his face.

"Never ending charm," he told her quickly. "I'm sure of it. The floor you're walking on doesn't move but it seems like the things around you are moving so you don't notice it until it's taking you 30 minutes to go somewhere that's 5 minutes away. We used to use this one on Snape all the time."

Lily silently congratulated herself. The old James Potter was coming back.

"We were such idiots..." James shook his head, as if exasperated with his childhood self.

_That_ was not what Lily had expected. Was he serious?

"What are you talking about?" she said before she thought about her words. "You always bragged about all those things you got away with."

James looked at her skeptically. "Lily, you of all people should know how stupid we all were."

"Imature."

"Overconfident."

"Big-headed."

James winced dramatically. "That hurt."

Lily laughed lightly, not only because of James' joke, but she was starting to be very happy that she had been wrong. Indeed, she was now remembering the James Potter who had managed to worm his way into her affections during their 7th year.

_Stop it!_ She argued with herself. _People like him don't change!_

"I still find it hard to believe that you could go through so many years of being a prat and then suddenly snap out of it," she said with a hint of reservation as she sat down on the nearest bench. As long as they weren't able to actually go anywhere, she could at least get off of the heels she had been walking on all night. James followed her example and sat down on the bench opposite her, leaning back to examine the night sky.

"You ever have those moments when you realize something, something big, that you feel could change your life forever?" He asked in reply.

Lily immediately thought about when she had first come to terms with being a witch; a thought that both terrified her and excited her at the same time.

"Yes, I can see what you're talking about...So you're saying that you've come to this big revelation for yourself and that's what made you change?"

He stopped looking up for a moment to shoot her a questioning look that she didn't quite understand. "I guess you could say that...among other things," he conceded, looking back up at the sky.

Lily studied him for another few moments as she tried to figure out what he wasn't telling her. Her thoughts went back to the times they had been together since graduation. At all those times, she had seen and heard the change in him, but even now she wasn't sure she could place just how or why it had happened. Maybe she would never know, but the fact that he had changed was more important than anything else.

"It must be hard for people like you to change," she said quietly to him.

"No," he shook his head as he looked back at her, "not with people like you around."

----

Sirius and Nikkie were currently on Lily/James watch. They had argued for a while that not all of them needed to be on the lookout and that they might as well enjoy the dance and the free food while they could.

Sirius watched carefully as James stopped suddenly, glancing at the area around him. Lily then stopped, looking curiously as James took a few steps.

"What's wrong?" Nikkie whispered as she saw Sirius frown.

"James figured it out," he told her shortly. Indeed, James was now standing with his hands on his hips, a goofy grin on his face as if he knew that Sirius was out there somewhere and that he had been the one ot put up the charm.

"He can't see us, can he?" Nikkie said with a hint of worry.

"No," Sirius assured her. "And don't worry, they won't be able to go very far from that spot for another 30 minutes until the charm wears off."

"Brilliant," Nikkie whispered, moving slightly so she could see them. James and Lily seemed to have finally given up on walking and were sitting on benches opposite from each other, seemingly having a conversation together. "Too bad we can't hear them."

Sirius grinned handsomely at her and pulled something out of his pocket. "Who says I'm a Marauder for nothing?"

He dropped a small flesh colored object in her hand, taking his own and sticking it in his ear.

"This looks like a muggle thing..." Nikkie observed.

"They got it from us," Sirius explained. "This model was invented for the war to keep track of spies that we sent into Voldemort's inner circle. It doesn't even have a name yet and there are only a few dozen that exist."

"You're using your Auror equipment on your best friend?" Nikkie said, half horrified, half amazed.

Sirius merely smiled. "I slipped the brother part into his robes before we came here. We both have to carry so much stuff that I'm sure he didn't notice."

Nikkie still looked doubtful, but she stuck it in her ear anyway. They both tapped them with their wands and sure enough, James and Lily's voices carried over to them.

"It must be hard for people like you to change," Lily was saying.

"No, not with people like you around."

Sirius' mouth almost dropped open. James and Lily were having a remotely deep conversation? James practically confessing his feelings for Lily?

"Did you hear that too?" Nikkie whispered to Sirius. Seemed she didn't believe it either.

Sirius just nodded quickly and stayed still to hear what would happen next.

Both James and Lily were silent for a full 5 minutes. Sirius watched in confusion as they both just sat there, too embarrassed or too scared to carry on their conversation. Lily had a small amount of blush on her face as she stared up at the night sky. James, on the other hand, looked as if he was about to cry. Sirius recognized the look on his face as he thought of the past.

Finally, James spoke up. "Was I really such a jerk?"

Nikkie looked as if she wanted to answer the question herself, but Sirius motioned her to stay quiet.

"Yeah, you were," Lily said outright.

James' face dropped a little bit, as if he had been expecting that answer but it was particularly painful hearing it come out of Lily's mouth.

"Do you think I've changed?"

Sirius moved a bit so he could watch Lily as she answered. "You, James Potter, have most defiantly changed."

She leaned forward a bit and smiled at him. Sirius could tell that James was overjoyed by her words as he finally had the guts to look at her, too.

"So you forgive me?" James said timidly.

Lily hesitated on this answer but finally smiled. "Yes."

Sirius didn't even bother to listen anymore. He pulled the object out of his ear and motioned Nikkie to do the same. Hand in hand they walked back into the ball, both content with a mission accomplished.

----

"No, not with people like you around."

The silence was almost deafening. Lily found herself at a loss for words. What did that mean, people like her? Could James still have feelings for her? Or maybe...maybe she was his reason...

Lily suddenly felt herself going red and she looked down and then up at the stars, hoping James didn't see her blush.

How could that be possible? Lily had thought of James' feelings for her like a schoolboy crush, but this was something much grander.

Could he still possibly love me?

She racked her brain for an answer to her own feelings.

She found no direct path to the truth.

This was going to involve some tricky twists and turns, but Lily was ready for it.

----

_I can't believe I just said that_, James thought to himself as he saw the shocked expression on Lily's face. He quickly looked back up at the sky, trying to ignore the butterflies that were whirling around in his stomach. Surly Lily would be able to figure out what he meant by that.

If she did, she would most likely kindly tell him that he needed to back off and stop trying to chase her.

If she didn't, she would go on, acting like they were just friends and occasionally blaming him again for their break up.

Neither prospect sounded encouraging.

Out of the side of his eye, James saw Lily start to look up as well, a pink tinge on her cheeks.

Blushing? Was Lily Evans blushing?

She figured it out. He could tell by the way she was trying hard not to look at him. Her hands trembled slightly as she gripped the seat of the bench she was on and her eyes searched through the stars like she was trying to find an answer among them. James felt himself doing just that.

Was there any way to solve this pickle he had gotten himself into?

Here he was, having just confessed (rather discreetly) his love for the girl sitting before him, and wishing now more than ever that he had paid more attention in astronomy and divination so that he could look to somewhere else for his solution.

His friends had been no help whatsoever. Sirius was too obsessed with Nikkie right now. Remus was having problems with the full moon coming next week. Peter...well Peter wasn't the kind of person to turn to for love advice.

It was now more than ever that James ached to have his parents back.

Even as a grown adult, he still felt so lost without them. His mother and father were like his best friends, always there when he needed them. Now, when he felt like he needed them the most, there was nothing left.

_Don't mess it up with Lily,_ a voice told him. _Don't let her get away. Don't loose her too._

After getting his emotions under control, James spoke.

"Was I really such a jerk?"

He winced at her sudden answer. "Yeah, you were."

He felt slightly happy at her use of the past tense, but hearing her say that he was a jerk made him feel even more animosity towards his younger self.

"Do you think I've changed?"

He had to know...even if she said no, than at least he wouldn't have to lie awake at night wondering.

"You, James Potter, have most defiantly changed."

She looked at him as she said it and at that moment, James felt himself walking on air.

"So you forgive me?"

He was looking at her now, his fear vanishing with every second she looked at him with that brilliant smile of hers.

"Yes."


	9. Make It Perfect

**Chapter 9 - Make it Perfect**

A high pitched something or other echoed through the large halls of Godric's Hollow at, what Sirius Black had determined, an unearthly hour.

He jammed his fingers in his ears as he sat lazily at the kitchen table, trying to eat his breakfast in peace. Next to him, Remus merely smiled cheekily and took another bite of his toast as he continued reading the paper.

"At least he sounds happy," Remus finally voiced to his friend as Sirius' face darkened and the noise (which no one would really define as whistling except the person actually making it) started getting closer.

"Nikkie used to say that the only person who enjoyed whistling was the person who actually was whistling," Sirius said in a huff. "And I'm beginning to believe her."

Remus just chuckled and continued reading the Daily Prophet. He only looked up again when the whistling abruptly stopped.

"You think he hurt himself?"

"Maybe he popped his own ear drums."

"Well, we can only hope..."

The next moment, James Potter strode into his own kitchen, happy as can be, but stopped short upon seeing two of his best friends sitting at his kitchen table. He frowned and they both seemed unconcerned at his confusion. Remus merely continued reading and Sirius was finishing off a sticky looking pastry.

"Wait," James pointed to the both of them. "I am in my house, aren't I?"

Sirius stood up and took his dishes to the counter. "You didn't put up your wards last night," he pointedly said.

"_And_ we heard you were going to go on your first date with Lily tonight," Remus added, folding up the newspaper and gulping the last of his tea down.

"Where's Peter?" James went over to the cupboards and pulled out an apple for himself, taking a bite out of it.

Sirius shrugged. "Who knows? We went by his flat this morning but he wasn't there. His parents say he's trying to get some new job, but apparently doesn't want people to know about it yet." He turned to James and looked at him hard in the eyes. "What's all this news about you and Lily going on a date tonight?"

James grimaced and turned away. "Does everyone know?"

"James, please. It's a national phenomenon."

"Haha, funny, Remus."

"We were actually just wondering how you got her to say yes."

"That's a long story, which I'm sure you two know a lot of anyway," James smiled at his friends as they tried to look clueless.

Sirius faked a feint and put his hand to his heart. "Why, Prongs, whatever do you mean by that?"

James just rolled his eyes, pulling a small device out of his pocket and throwing it on the table as he went to make himself some toast. "You, Padfoot, stink at stealth and secrecy."

----

"First date. First official date. First official date where she doesn't hate your guts. First official date where she doesn't hate your guts and she most likely will let you kiss her at the end."

"First kiss. First official kiss. First official kiss where she won't slap you. First official kiss where she won't slap you and then hex you into oblivion."

James flicked an article of clothing towards both of them as he reached to try on another outfit. "I don't need definitions, guys. Believe me, I know them."

Sirius reached down to pick up a tie and started putting it on himself, studying himself in the closest mirror. "To true, James."

"That hurt!" James yelled from behind the muffled closet doors.

Remus laughed at both his friends and skimmed through the next page of the book he was reading. "Here's a good one, James. 'Glamour glitter. Makes the wearer's faults become less obvious to the beholder'...oh, but it takes a few months to make...what's the use of that?" he flipped through a few more pages with no more luck.

"You should go on your old charms, James," Sirius called to him through the fury of clothes.

"Padfoot, she HATES the old charms. The old charms are the reason this is our first date rather than our 50th."

"Only 50?" Sirius scoffed. "That's an unfit number for a Marauder, James.."

"But not for Lily, and she matters more than you do." James stepped out of the closet wearing a whole new set of dress robes; this time they were dark green. He actually looked reasonably good, except for his hair, of course, which never looked good.

"James," Remus finally set down the book and leaned back on the bed. "I believe this girl has changed you."

"Changed for the better I hope," James pushed Sirius away from the mirror where he was still admiring himself and started straightening his robes.

"Jeeze, James! Do you even know that we're here anymore?" Sirius said half angry half amused.

James turned to the both confused. "Sorry, Sirius. What did you say?"

Sirius' eyes went wide and for a moment no one said anything. James finally lost it though and he cracked a small smile. The next second Siruis let out a loud "HA!" and lunged forward, tackling James to the ground. Remus was startled for a moment when he heard them wrestling together but then laughed out loud when James finally jumped up and ran out of the room, a large black dog galloping after him.

----

Lily bit her lip nervously as she paced back and forth in her bedroom, trying, for the 47th time to convince herself that everything was going to be okay.

"Oh! How can everything be okay!!!?" She finally let out in frustration.

Nikkie, who was currently doing her own nails on Lily's bed didn't look up but laughed cheekily. "I told you, Lily. Did I call it or what?"

Lily stopped pacing momentarily to glare at her friend. "I do not need any 'I-told-you-so's' right now, Nicole."

Nikkie still didn't look up but shrugged her shoulders and picked up a different nail file.

Lily rolled her eyes and started pacing again, muttering to herself. "How? How did he do it? Once again I let him through! Oh, I bet he just does it to see me get all agitated like this!" She walked briskly over to the window and started peering out as if she thought that James and his friends would be there, peeking through the window, laughing their heads off.

Of course, they weren't.

"Lily, will you chill?" Nikkie had finally looked up and was shaking up her latest color of nail polish. "Don't you remember all those things you said right after you came home from the ball?"

"I must have still been under the influence when I came home!"

"You don't drink."

"That's beside the point!"

"Then what is your point?"

Both girls stopped and glared at each other, daring one another to speak first. Finally, Nikkie spoke.

"You came in here less than 12 hours ago, flying on cloud nine because you and James had actually had a civilized conversation and he had asked you out again. I leave to let you get some sleep, and now that I'm back you're having second thoughts!!?" Nikkie huffed and blew on her wet nails a little bit. "Look, Lily. You may not have accepted it yet, but James is different. There's a reason you said yes to him last night."

Lily looked down, collapsing into the nearest chair as she let out a deep sigh. Both of them sat in a less hostile silence, but no more comfortable.. Nikkie finished doing all her nails by the time Lily spoke.

"What was my reason again?"

Nikkie looked up at her with the first confused expression she had worn all morning and answered her very bluntly.

"Because you love him, of course."

----

As the clock struck seven, James straightened his robes one more time and took a deep breath. He turned to his three friends who were all standing around him, emotional support he supposed.

"Well, here I go," he said simply.

Sirius clapped him on the shoulder. "It'll be just like old times, James.."

"Only better," Peter added with a grin.

"What if I mess up again?" James asked them, more worry in his voice than his friends had ever heard.

"You won't."

Remus always seemed to know the right words to say at the right time.

James managed a smile and nodded his head. "Right."

"Just remember that she is probably still a bit apprehensive about you," Sirius said in all seriousness.

"So don't be scared if she doesn't want to hold your hand or something," Peter added.

"Because that just means she's as nervous as you are," Remus finished with a grin.

James nodded at them and stepped back a bit, taking a deep breath. "Wish me luck?"

"You're gonna need it," Sirius said with a smile and a wink.

James smiled at his best friend. "Not what I was hoping for, but all I really expected. Thanks guys."

They all waved as he disapperated with a pop.

----

"Come on in. I just have to grab my purse."

James nervously wiped his already sweaty hand on the inside of his robes as he stepped into Lily's small flat. She gave him a smile and disappeared into a back room. "I'll just be a minute."

James glanced around noticing that this was the same type of flat that Sirius owned, but rarely lived in. Of course, Lily's was MUCH cleaner, and, if he could say so, quite tastefully decorated. She seemed to like the color green, for it was almost everywhere and seemed to be the recurring theme in the two rooms that he could see from where he was standing. He was just trying to make out the pictures that were sitting on a nearby shelf when Lily came back.

"Sorry about that," she said with a smile that made his stomach jump. "Nikkie was over here all day, hardly giving me time to get ready." She stepped back and held out her arms. "I hope I'm dressed alright for wherever we're going?"

James nodded dumbly. She was dressed in a knee length kaki skirt with a plain white top that had a small design embroidered on the edges. She grabbed her black robe that hung by the door and started pulling it on. Snapping back into reality, James stepped forward to help her finish putting it on. Lily seemed to freeze for a moment when he first touched her, but they both managed to get through the moment.

"Um...thank you."

"Don't mention it."

James stepped back and looked her over again. She smirked.

"So where are we going?"

"Trony's," James said shortly.

Her eyes widened noticeably. "Serious?"

James paled slightly. "What? Do you not like that place?"

"Oh, no! No, that's not it. I just...I've never been there. From what I've heard it's rather..."

"Expensive?"

She bit her bottom lip, the blush rising to her face.

James shrugged it off and held out his arm. "It's not big deal."

"Are you trying to buy me, James Potter?" Lily said suspiciously as she took his arm and he led her out the door.

James smiled down at her. "Is it working?"

He dodged as she went to hit him and they both ended up laughing.

"Don't start with me, James," she warned playfully as they turned the corner onto one of the main streets of Diagon Alley. James was just grateful she lived so close to the restaurant. It made traveling accommodations less backbreaking.

"Oh, I wouldn't dare," James promised, giving her one last smile.

_Maybe this date won't be so terrible after all..._

----

"Pretty girl, James. Reminds me of someone..."

James grinned and snatched the two chilled butterbeers from the bartender. "Lay off, Geb. You want me to mess up again?"

Geb laughed heartily and started wiping off the already too clean counter with a rag. "I can't believe she said yes again."

James rolled his eyes and leaned forward, trying to talk over the blasting music of the restaurant. "So the whole world really does know, huh?"

"What kind of bartender would I be if I didn't know the latest news," Geb said with a raised eyebrow, reaching under the counter to pull out some drinks for a passing waiter.

"Where's Trony?" James asked, looking around.

"Got the flu last week. Or so he says."

"Very nice of you to cover for him."

"What are brothers for?"

"More than covering for each other at work."

"What do you want, James. Sick of our waiters already?"

James shrugged. "Sick of being rich is more likely."

"Parent's leave you too much money?"

"Well, Sirius isn't complaining."

"Who would?"

"I would."

Geb dropped his rag down on the counter and leaned down toward, James. "What do you want, Potter. I got business."

"Geb, this place wouldn't have done nearly so well if my parents hadn't helped you all those years ago..."

Geb snorted and leaned back, flicking his wand to a sink with dirty dishes, which jumped and started cleaning themselves. "Look, I don't got a flower shop in the back or anything...."

He trailed off when he turned around and James was pushing a bag of gold toward him with a knowing grin on his face. Geb looked up suspiciously.

"Just make it perfect. It's as easy as that."

Tipping his head to Geb and gripping his two butterbeers, James walked back to the table.

----

Lily sat nervously at the table that James had led her to, her hands running along the sides of the menu that she was currently trying to read. She couldn't imagine so much food! It was actually only one page but every time she flipped it, it changed to a different group of food. What shocked her even more were the prices she saw listed. She wouldn't spend this much on a week's worth of food. The suspicion that James was trying to buy her was growing. How in the world could he afford this? She knew his parents had been rich, but she didn't know they had been this rich.

She glanced up and looked around for James. He had excused himself right away, said he was going to get their drinks, but she didn't really buy it. Waiters were everywhere and considering the credibility of this establishment and the price of the food, she figured they could at least serve them the drinks themselves.

She finally spotted him talking to one of the bartenders, a burly man who looked almost out of place as he wore his fancy dress robes. James was clutching two butterbeers in his hand and was smiling as they talked. Lily studied him for a moment, noticing the changes that she hadn't spotted while he was wearing his stiff Auror robed. She saw how easy the two of them were talking and realized that James probably knew people in this place, which would be the only explanation for their getting reservations. Lily once heard that this place was booked until the next millennium. Of course, that might had been an exaggeration, but something told her it wasn't.

She looked back down at her menu and was once again overcome with the selections. She kept flipping the page until finally at the bottom she saw a small box that said: RANDOM FOOD CHOICE.

Frowning, she tapped it with her wand.

Similar to the old school sorting hat, the menu suddenly started talking with her.

"Allergies?"

Startled, Lily just sat with her mouth open.

"Allergies, young lady?"

"Um...peanuts," she finally got out.

"Meat preference?"

Lily's eyebrows just got higher. "Chicken?"

"Is that a question or a response?"

"I would like chicken please."

"Any dislikes of vegetables?"

Lily looked up seeing that James was now making his way back to the table. She looked back down and quickly said, "No tomatoes or broccoli."

"Rightio..." The menu flapped back down and went silent. Lily carefully reached down and picked it up, flipping it over to read. It showed three different chicken plates with no peanuts in them, no tomatoes, no broccoli and no peppers.

"I didn't say peppers," Lily whispered suspiciously.

"But you were thinking it," a voice from the menu said.

Lily's head jerked up and she saw James slid in the seat across from her..

"What did you say?"

James pointed to the menu. "You did the random selection thing, right?"

Lily nodded.

"Its knows what you're thinking. Kinda like the old school sorting hat."

Lily smiled. "That's exactly what I thought of when I saw it."

"Great minds think alike."

Her face dropped as she thought. "But then, why does it ask you questions, if it already knows?"

James shrugged. "Well everybody has a chance to get out their choices, huh?" he picked up his own menu and started looking it over. She frowned and saw that he had brought them both a butterbeer.

"Nothing more fancy?" she voice as she picked up her bottle to open it.

James looked up hurriedly with a worried expression. "What? Did you want something different?"

Lily shook her head and frowned. "No. I just figured you would get something really fancy to try and impress me."

James just shrugged and put down his menu, fiddling with the tablecloth. "Would it impress you if I did get something fancy?"

"No."

"That's what I figured."

"But you could afford it, so why not?"

James leaned farther back and heaved a deep sigh. "So I'm rich, so what? Does that matter?"

Lily frowned suspiciously. What was he up to? "You act as if it doesn't matter to you."

"It doesn't."

"You're not serious."

"Why would I lie about that?"

"To im-"

"-Impress you? Look, Lily. I don't like being rich. I never have. This has nothing to do with you. I've been like this for a while. Besides, I know that lies don't impress you. " He laughed shortly. "I did pay attention before, despite how much you think I didn't." He looked up at her and caught her eye with a smile. "I remember everything."

"Everything?"

"Everything."

**--------**

_For those of you who were wondering...this line in the last chapter:_

_"You, James Potter, have most defiantly changed."_

_The "defiantly" was on purpose, it was not a spellcheck thing or a big mistake of mine. It's supposed to be defiantly. _

_Thanks to everyone who reviewed!_


	10. Since Hogwarts

_Long wait, terribly sorry, I've actually been having this little debate with myself because this is basically the end of the story...but I don't like that. I posted this all (complete with the Epilogue) on Fictionalley, and hated it. So if anyone has any clever ideas on how to make this story longer, please leave word in your review. I will probably end up posting an epilogue after this and then starting a new follow-up story._

_Thanks to all who reviewed!_

* * *

**Chapter 10 - Since Hogwarts**

He hadn't messed up...yet.

Of course they hadn't even reached dessert yet, so there was still ample time for things to go wrong. James glanced over at Geb again, this time catching his friend's eye. He was met with a kind of evil grin that made him even queasier in the stomach than he had been. Geb topped off his grin with a raise of eyebrows and a small salute before turning away.

His stomach churning, James turned back to Lily, continuing to pick at his food. Truth be told, he really didn't enjoy what he had ordered, but he had assured Lily that he did. He figured ordering the same thing as her would be wise, because he could tell she wasn't too familiar with anything this place served. It had, at least, earned him a pleasant smile from her and a "Thank you, that's really sweet."

He took down a few more bites before the silence was broken again.

"So, do you come here often, James?"

He nodded nonchalantly. "Sometimes. I went more when my parents were still alive. This was their favorite restaurant."

She nodded understandingly and looked down. "Does it make you sad to be here?" she finally asked, a hint of concern in her voice.

"Not really. My family has known the owners of this restaurant for years. They're kind of like family." He smiled as he looked back up at her, a way to reassure her that he was all right.

It would have been like one of those muggle moments. The all too perfect scene of both of them staring into each others eyes; he would smile and she would bat her eyelashes...

...Had it not been for the jumble of idiotic and smiling waiters that suddenly appeared at their table, scaring both of them out of their wits. For a whole 15 seconds, James and Lily didn't move, staring unblinkingly up at the throng of wizards who all appeared to be holding a different instrument. James' eyes darted around and his heart dropped as he saw Geb standing behind the lot, laughing his head off silently.

His eyes went wide as he figured out what they were about to do, and just as he opened his mouth to stop them, it began.

Every instrument that James could remember started playing and they were all accompanied by the most off key wizards that Geb could scrounge up.

_On this night of a thousand stars_

_Let me take you to heavens door_

_Where the music of love's guitar_

_Plays forever more!_

James dejectedly buried his face in his hands, not even daring to look over at Lily to see what her reaction to this was.

To be fair, he should have expected this. Geb was not exactly the most serious person, despite how he attempted to act. James secretly had been hoping that Trony would have been on duty tonight, but he had ended up dealing with Geb.

That had been wrong from the start.

As the "chorus" died down, James managed to peak through his fingers and saw Lily. She was sitting politely with her hands in her lap; a pleasant, forced smile plastered on her face, bless her. He felt his face go red with embarrassment. Here he had been, telling her how much these people reminded him of family...

He hoped it wouldn't go much further, but it did.

"Miss Lily Evans..."

James sunk further into his seat.

"On behalf of Monsieur James Potter here...who we all," everyone joined in, "_absolutely adore_!" James' nose slid down past the tabletop. "We would like to present you with a small token of appreciation for your dining at our restaurant this evening..."

The man stepped forward presenting Lily with a small wrapped box. James peaked through his eyes and watched with bated breath as she hesitantly opened it.

He managed a glance over at the on look of waiters who were all still smiling pleasantly, trying their best to not glance at James and control their laughing.

Lily's face immediately lit up when she saw what was inside the box and James' heart died down quite a bit. He held his breath as she reached in and pulled out a beautiful pearl necklace.

He breathed again.

----

"Just how much money was in that bag?"

Geb, who was currently flicking his wand around to wash a few dishes, didn't turn around when he heard James.

"You didn't count it?"

"What do you think?"

The grizzly bartender finally turned around with a hesitant smile on his face. "Come on, Potter. I may be a little on the eccentric side, but I do know a friend when I have one." He reached out a hand to James. "Just think of it as a little bit of payback for all those 'loans' your parents gave this restaurant."

James gave him a skeptical look but reached out and shook his hand anyway. "That necklace is a bloody goldmine, Geb. Are you playing straight with me?"

"Potter, since when did I ever play straight with you?"

James finally smiled and chuckled as he pulled away, putting his robe on. "Well, whatever you did, thanks a lot."

Geb gave him a short salute and turned away again as James headed out. Right before getting to the door, James turned back. "Geb? The singing? Was that really..."

"Potter..."

"Right, got it. I'm out of here."

James made a hasty exit before Geb changed his mind and hurried out of the restaurant to find Lily just coming out of the Ladies room, pulling on her own robe. She smiled when she saw him and he saw that she was wearing the pearl necklace. He would have thought that it wouldn't go with her semi casual outfit, but after such a (mostly) flawless date, he thought she was looking beautiful in anything. Offering her his arm, James gestured to the door.

"Ready?"

"Absolutely."

As they stepped out of the restaurant, both James and Lily had the strangest feeing of déjàfont vu...

_..."We should really get back to the school..." Lily tugged at James' arm, trying to coax him back towards the direction of the school, but it was to no avail._

_"Come on Lily! One more stop!" James reached out with his other arm, grabbing her other arm and pulling her a different direction. He, being obviously stronger, won the pull and Lily couldn't help but laugh as they both crunched through the snow, heading towards the frozen lake where a few brave students were attempting to ice skate across it._

_James finally let go as they reached a large willow tree where they often spent afternoons together. Lily stopped as soon as he let go, but James kept going, running in circles under the lightly falling snow, a look of pure bliss on his face. Lily laughed as she watched, hugging her arms around herself, feeling more content then she had ever imagined herself to be. Who would have thought that _she_ would be dating James Potter?_

_Suddenly James quit his circles and rushed up to her and, to her delight, lifted her slightly, twirling her in his arms. Lily cried aloud, reflexively reaching for him but laughing despite herself, wondering rapidly where her life had taken the sudden 180-degree turn._

_As James let her down, both of them grinning like tomfools, he was the first to speak. "You think I'm crazy, don't you?"_

_"No, I think you're insane!"_

_James smirked at her but only replied with a short kiss, which she accepted giddily. When he pulled back, her heart was beating faster._

_"I think that warmed me up a bit," she said sneakily._

_"Glad I could be of service, miss." James tipped his head slightly too her mockingly and she slapped him lightly on the chest for his cockiness. _

_"Don't let it go to your head," Lily warned, half seriously._

_"Oh, I won't."_

_They kissed again, longer this time and Lily began to feel like she was in the Sahara Desert. _

_When they pulled away, James kept them close enough so that their foreheads were touching and their fingers were still interlocked._

_"I think I love you," James said suddenly, quietly, as if he was just thinking aloud._

_"You think?" Lily teased._

_They were both silent for a few seconds until James' voice lowered even more._

_"No...I know it."_

_Lily's face had dropped and she was looking at him with a mixture of confusion and hope. James, on the other hand, seemed to be pleading through his eyes, pouring every amount of love in them that he could muster._

_She hadn't seriously considered James in the "love" category, but in the few moments since it had been brought up, she came to the realization about why she hadn't considered it._

_She already knew._

_"Yeah...me too."_

_Her heart fluttered as James' face split into a wide grin and before she could take another breath, he had captured her lips up in another breathtaking kiss..._

Though the situation was slightly different now, James felt those same feeling welling up in him as he walked with the beautiful young women beside him.

She seemed quite more relaxed than he was feeling, like she knew something he didn't. Indeed, she was currently reliving the earlier conversation with Nickie while she had been panicking.

James, however, felt like a wreck. His feet kept stumbling and he felt the sweat beads gathering on his forehead as they walked through the candle lit streets of Diagon Alley.

Turning another corner, James felt his heart skip a beat, but this time it wasn't because of Lily.

Since becoming an Auror, James had become constantly on guard, noticing more around him and taking in the details of his surroundings. It had come in handy, especially investigating Death Eater strikes and Dark Mark scenes. He so far had not needed it for being present at actual strikes, but the gut feeling he was getting made him certain he was about to.

Trying not to alert Lily until he was sure, James kept walking on casually, watching the shadows flickering and hearing the scuffling that no one would notice unless they were listening for it.

Unfortunately, Lily's still picked it up and she stopped, causing him to stop, but he held up a hand before she could say anything.

A bright jet of green light streaked across the road towards them. James managed to pull Lily quickly towards him, throwing them both haphazardly behind a near bench. By the time both of them got themselves back together, their wands were out and ready, and more jets of lights were streaming towards them. Realizing they needed more cover, James wrenched Lily's arm, pulling her further into the shadows of a breakaway alley, meanwhile firing a few stunning charms towards the vicinity of the attacks.

"What's happening?" Lily finally managed to squeak in, fear showing deeply on her face.

"Death Eaters," James said shortly, peaking around the corner and seeing the burly shapes of 3 men walking towards them in the alley. "Three of them."

"Why?"

James rolled his eyes. "Does Voldemort need a reason?"

"But Diagon Alley..." Lily trembled. "It doesn't make sense."

"Considering the circumstances, it makes perfect sense."

Lily opened her mouth to ask why, but before she could, James bellowed "DOWN!" and they both dropped as a few streams of light whisked above their heads.

"We know you're there, Potter!"

James grimaced as he heard the voice.

"Fine greeting, Malfoy!" he bellowed back, his mind working dangerously fast as he tried to figure out a way out of this mess. Luckily, the Death Eaters had stopped firing but he didn't dare show his face over their flimsy but working shield of old cauldron's that were thrown away.

Lucius Malfoy laughed deeply, truly enjoying himself too much.

"You're little stunt down in the Ministry yesterday made a lot of trouble for me, Potter, and the Dark Lord as well."

"Excuse me if I embarrassed you a bit."

'I particularly liked the part about me accepting the Dark Mark 3 years ago. Surely you know it was more than 5 years ago?"

"Bloody son of a..."

"My, my, Potter. Did we get up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?"

James risked peaking his head slightly over their cover only to swiftly duck back down as an Avada shot right at him.

"No games, Potter."

James laughed bitterly, trying to focus on anyone but Lily. "I could say the same for you! What do you want?"

As he spoke, he deftly whipped out a small ring that he slipped on his finger and began to fiddle with. Lily gave him a questioning look, but he ignored her.

"The Dark Lord wants to know if you've reconsidered his offer."

Dead silence hung in the air and James was grateful he had already finished sending his distress call to the division. They should be on their way soon.

He didn't dare look up at Lily as those words hung in the air. He never told her about the offer from Voldemort, an offer that he had received twice and bluntly turned down.

_"Your last chance James...I can make you powerful. In your heart you know that. I can show you power that even Dumbledore does not know of..."_

He gritted his teeth and raised his voice louder. "Not interested!"

Luckily, the backup arrived then; compromising of 20 or so trained witches and wizards from James' Auror department apparating into the air everywhere.

James quickly glanced up but saw that on sight of the Aurors arriving, the three had immediately apparated away. He gritted his teeth, seeing that the Aurors were already snapping into action, following up traces from tracking the apparation and yelling orders all about. But through the immediate confusion, James only heard one voice.

"James?"

He closed his eyes slowly, his heart dropping as he heard Lily speak quietly from behind him. Sighing and turning, he only opened his eyes when he was fully facing her again.

"Yes?"

Lily couldn't seem to find the words but simple stared at him with a mixture of apprehension and pity.

James took a deep breath and managed to stand up, offering his hand to Lily, which she accepted. As he pulled her up, though, she didn't let go. She hung on so tight that he finally turned to face her. Her eyes questioned him silently.

"A lot has happened since Hogwarts," he reasoned lamely, knowing she wouldn't buy it.

She scrutinized him for a moment, but she was cut off once again as a tall Wizards strode up to James.

"Colonel Potter?"

James deftly faced the man, a rather talented wizards who had recently passed the Auror tests and who James had picked specifically for his division.

"We traced the apparation line till Little Whinging but lost it," Lieutenant Sam Webb reported. "The movements were quite erratic and were impossible for our tracers to follow." Sam stopped and gave them both a look of military concern. "Are either of you hurt?"

"No, we're both quite alright. I appreciate the group answering my call so quickly." Indeed, James was surprised at how fast they had arrived. The "Ring System" hadn't exactly been tested yet, so James hadn't even been sure if his newest little piece of equipment would have worked, but had relied on it nonetheless.

Webb saluted shortly, "Just doing out job sir."

"Don't bother to try anything else, everyone," James called out to the rest of the group. "You've done quite enough. Sorry to take you away from the exciting paperwork."

Most of them laughed and Sirius, who James finally spotted among the crowd called out, "Down with paperwork!" before they all apperated away. Sirius stayed a second longer to give them both the pointed wink, before he too, disappeared from sight.

Lily tugging his arm up towards a pub two blocks away, brought James back into focus. He followed without question, realizing that this night wasn't turning out as he expected at all.

----

"You're serious?"

James snorted and took a short swig of his chilled butterbeer as they sat across from each other in the loud pub, Lily looking at him with pure astonishment.

"He called it an 'honor' for me," James temper rose as he thought about the events of Voldemort's visits to him that he had just relived to Lily. "An honor!"

Lily reached out a hand and laid it on his that was clutching is drink. "But you're family has never been interested in the Dark Arts."

"Tel me about it." James swigged once more and began to feel miserable enough that he considered going to buy a firewhiskey.

"James."

He looked pitifully up at Lily and saw the pity in her eyes. Pity that made him sick. Pity that he didn't want.

"Does Sirius or anyone know about this?"

James huffed. "No."

She looked astonished. "Why not?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"You want to know why, Lily?" He felt his voice and anger rising but couldn't hold it back. "Because all these people close to me, all these people who find out my secrets, all these people that I care about, all these people that I...That I love..." he swallowed hard, particularly looking her in the eyes as he spoke. "All these people...are in danger...because of me..."

She gripped his hand tighter so that he couldn't hold his drink any longer, but he looked down, almost in shame.

"I don't want anyone to go through what happened tonight...especially you."

He drew his hand away, ashamed, and leaned back, still not looking at her.

"I should never have told you this..."

Not wasting another moment, James stood up, grabbing his cloak and rushing out of the pub, hoping that Lily wouldn't follow, but rationalizing that she would.

Sure enough, five steps out the door, He heard footsteps rushing up behind him.

"Wait! James!"

"It's a dead dream, Lily," he spoke forcefully, still walking fast and not turning around. She still managed to catch up to him but had to run a bit to keep up with him.

"I thought we were going to try and make this work!"

"It won't."

"Who says? Voldemort?"

"Everyone!" James shouted, stopping and turning to her as menacingly as he could. "We couldn't make it through a year at school together. On top of our terrible tempers, there's no way I'm taking you out if we get ambushed by Death Eaters every night!"

"James, listen to what you're saying! Everyone thinks we're perfect!" They were five steps away form each other in the middle of the darkened street, only a few passerby's noticing their argument, but hurrying on quickly. "Do you think so little of me that I would get back together with you under these circumstances?"

"Who's to say that this time will be any different? Who's to say I've really changed?"

"I do!"

"Well what do you know?"

He saw tears pricking her eyes and felt his bottom jaw trembling. She closed the distance between them and reached up to brush a few strands of hair out of his eyes. He defiantly stared down at her, determined to end this here and now, before anything else could happen to her.

"I know you. I know that you're just being brave right now, but you're scared more than you want to admit. I know that you...that you and I need to give this another chance..."

Her tears fell and her bottom lip trembled as she searched his face. He was hoping that she would walk away from him any second but her reaching up to kiss him was the last thing he had expected, and took him quite by surprise.

It was a moment that James had dreamt about and longed for forever since that dreadful ball during their seventh year at Hogwarts. She still tasted the same and her lips still felt perfect against his. There was a small moment of hesitant denial before James started to respond to the kiss, reaching up and putting his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him, her arms already looped up around his neck. Her tears splashed on his face as their kissed forcefully, longingly, both of them realizing that the intermission had indeed gone on too long.

Lack of air forced them apart and James didn't dare move for fear that his dream would shatter before his eyes. Both of them breathed heavily in the aftermath of the kiss, searching one another's face and not daring to break the silence.

A distant rumble of thunder seemed to jolt them both out of the dream and Lily jerked back, blush rushing up to her face.

"I-I'm sorry...I -"

She backed up two steps before James rushed up and silenced her with another kiss. This one was only broke by the sudden downpour of rain that appeared, soaking them both to the bone, but neither seemed to care that much. His time, however, James did break the silence.

"Give me one more chance?"

Lily gradually smiled and let out a loud giggle, launching herself into James' arms. James joined in her laughter and spun her delicately in the rain, both of them thinking back to better days and the better days that were hopefully ahead of them.


End file.
